


Superbro and the Super Friends

by Phandancee74



Series: The House of El - Found Family [1]
Category: Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Smallville, Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Cat Grant Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Clark raises Kara, F/F, Found Family, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:34:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 37,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23722429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phandancee74/pseuds/Phandancee74
Summary: Clark Kent thought he had a lot going on in his life, and then he just kept getting more family.
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers, Clark Kent & Lena Luthor, Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Jonathan Kent & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers & Cat Grant, Kara Danvers & Clark Kent, Kara Danvers & Lois Lane, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Martha Kent & Lena Luthor
Series: The House of El - Found Family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922584
Comments: 51
Kudos: 244





	1. A Warm Welcome

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will be SuperCorp endgame but is mostly just a story about Clark Kent getting an entourage of found family who support each other. Sometimes he is resistant and sometimes he just accepts the fact that he will eventually have a mob of badass women who care for him and each other. Because you can't just say it means "Stronger Together" and not have a giant family.
> 
> The universe is a mess, I pulled some elements/aspects of characters from Smallville, Lois & Clark, and Supergirl. I'm okay with this because we don't really know where several of the Superman centric characters were with their lives when Kara was 13. The fic starts right after the end of Season 1 of Lois & Clark because I wanted to introduce Lena before Kara.

Clark heard the sound from where he’d left his clothes; his pager. He quickly flew down to see who needed him. After the mess the past few days had been he didn’t know whether he was ready to be of help to anyone.

Lena?

Oh no. Lena. 

Clark had been too focused on Lex and Lois to think about how their sudden wedding, ceremony getting crashed by the police, and Lex’s subsequent death affected anyone outside of Metropolis. It had done enough damage to everyone immediately around him to go looking for more trouble, but he should have thought of Lena. Did Lena hate him now? Did she need him? He flew to the nearest payphone, clothes in hand.

“Lena, I’m so sorry.” Clark started, his voice filled with sorrow. As Superman he could only express his sadness that Lex had resorted to such means to escape justice. As Lex’s former good friend from Smallville he could let a bit of the truth out. He was devastated.

“Clark.” Lena sounded distressed on the other end of the line. “Can you help me?”

“Yes, what do you need?” Clark waited to change out of his suit, he wasn’t sure whose help Lena required.

“Lionel and Lillian have forgotten about me in this whole mess and my school is closed for vacation this week. I’d call a car but the police have frozen all our assets and it took me ages to convince anyone to let me use the school phone. I tried calling Lionel first but he didn’t pick up. They keep saying I need to leave.”

Clark sighed, almost thankful that it was only the usual Luthors ignoring their children problem. He could help with that.

“It’ll be fine, Lena. You know, I was actually in the area, visiting my parents and I needed a drive to think for a bit. I’ll be there in 10.”

“Thank you, Clark. And I’m sorry.” Clark only barely heard Lena’s soft whisper before she hung up.

Clark took twelve minutes to fly to Smallville, leave a note for his parents and drive their borrowed car to Lena’s private school. Two minutes might not make a difference to some but to a terrified eleven year old, especially one as smart and with such a life as Lena had, each additional moment alone would be filled with anxiety.

As he drove up the driveway to the gorgeous old private school’s main building he saw her sitting on her bag with a book open. Maybe he didn’t have to worry so much.

“You’re late.” Lena said closing her book without looking up. 

“I’m sorry.” Clark smiled. “I should know better than to estimate something so casually to the future head of Luthor Corp R&D.”

Lena didn’t laugh as she usually did when Clark talked about her future. “I don’t know if there will be a Luthor Corp after this week.”

“I didn’t mean to bring that up. Why don’t you go grab your teacher or whoever you need to let know you’re leaving and I’ll put your bag in the car.”

Lena shook her head. “I’m all set. It might not be official protocol to lock the doors on a minor once they walk outside but I was prepared for it. Today my only distinguishable characteristic is my adopted name.”

——————————————————————————————————————

Clark decided to take Lena to his parents. Her school would let students back in on Saturday morning and although Lena wasn't in good social standing due to her connection to Lex, her parents had paid for her schooling through the end of high school almost from the moment they’d taken her in.

Martha and Jonathan were standing outside to receive them. Clark hadn't mentioned in his note that he'd be bringing Lena with him but they weren't surprised. Martha already had a pie in the oven for dessert and Jonathan had pulled out the chess board.

The Kents had met Lena when she was six or seven, just after Clark had. They'd all been invited to a party at the Luthor's Smallville estate. Back when Lex was still trying to figure out how to properly thank Clark for saving his life and when the Luthors always used to be in town for Christmas.

_Lena had run right up to Jonathan that night and hugged him. "Grandpa!" she'd shouted delighted._

_Lex, already on his way over to greet Clark and the Kents had frowned at his sister. "Lena, this is Mr. Kent."_

_Lena looked up at the man she was holding onto. She took a moment and stared carefully at his face. "I apologize Mr. Kent, my Mom's dad," she saw Lionel and Lillian approaching. "My birth mother's father I mean, he had a jacket like yours."_

_Lena turned to flee before she could get into more trouble but Jonathan stopped her. "Well, thank you for the hug either way. It was a very nice welcome."_

_Lex took the opening and gave Clark a one armed hug and pat on the back. "The Kents will always get a warm welcome here. Come get some food. Clark, can I show you something over here?"_

_Lena looked up at Martha and Jonathan then over to her adoptive parents who had been distracted from her mistake by some important members of the community. "I'll show you where the food is."_

_"That would be great, Lena." Martha said. "Are we keeping you from any of your guests?"_

_Lena shook her head. "This party isn't for kids." It sounded like something she had been told a few times._

_"Well. What should we do once we've got our food then, Lena? Do you have any games?"_

_Lena thought Clark's parents were being too nice but she'd met Clark before and he was the same way so she asked carefully, "Could we play chess?"_

_Jonathan laughed. "Absolutely. I think the three of us will get on fine.”_

_After that the Kents were invited to various parties and whenever the invitation came in Lena's handwriting, immaculate even at such a young age, the whole family went. Clark and Lex saw each other whenever Lex was in Smallville and then after Clark moved to Metropolis whenever Lex could spare time from his company._

_Lex had been the one to end the tradition of Christmas in Smallville and so for the past two years Lena hadn't seen the Kents. She did write them a nice Christmas letter and she'd received one back from Martha and one from Jonathan. When she told Clark about that the next time she saw him, when she was on a visit to Lex, he told her that he never got separate letters from his parents so she must be pretty special to them._

Martha ran up to the door before Lena had even gotten out of the car and was ready with a hug. As soon as arms wrapped around her, Lena began to cry. She hadn't had a real hug like this in ages. Maybe since that last Smallville Christmas party when she was 9. Most of her school friends didn't truly care about her and even those that did wouldn't have dared risk her image or their own right now with such open affection.

Jonathan’s and Clark's arms wrapped around her too in a group hug. Lena felt safe again, just for a moment. Safe and loved and able to cry. Then she put the Luthor mask back on when she realized they were still outside. Granted the Kents lived in the middle of nowhere apparently but still, if she was outside the press could find her.

As the hug ended Martha told everyone to come inside before they got cold and had Clark bring Lena’s bag in.

“Lena, I’ve put you in Clark’s room. He was only staying a few days and you’ll be here all week. Plus, he sleeps like a log wherever he is.”

Lena wanted to protest but Clark agreed with his mom. “I’ll probably need to be back at the paper tomorrow anyway. But you three will hardly notice I’m gone so I don’t know why I’m telling you.”

Lena smiled. “Of course we’ll notice, Clark. Who else could so quickly lose the chess tournament and then be available to bring us takeout?”

“Whatever you need, Champion Extraordinaire. But just so you know, Mom and Dad have been giving each other strategy books and practicing since last time. The Kents may prevail!”

“Don’t go giving away all our secrets Clark,” Martha said looking at her son proudly. Even during one the hardest periods of his life, Clark had shown what a good friend he was. “Now get that pie out of the oven. Winner gets the first slice!”

—————————————————————————————————————————

Between chess tournaments, and one brief scrabble game that Clark managed to start so he could win something, Martha managed to get Lena to understand that she was always welcome here. They had invited her to their home before, but her parents had never allowed her to take them up on the offer. 

“You’re just down the road, dear. Jonathan or I would be happy to pick you up any time. It does get a bit lonely here without Clark so you’d really be doing us a favor. Especially if you wouldn’t mind helping out with the animals. I can always pay you in food!” Martha coaxed Lena, knowing that she always wanted to prove herself useful. She wanted Lena to know she could come over regardless, that they considered her part of the family, but if asking for her help brought her to them more often she could work from there.

On the third day of Lena’s break Clark left to go back to Metropolis. He’d checked in the second day and been told that they could spare him. Lois was still on bereavement leave, and he wasn’t going to write anything without his partner. He’d called her too, and had been extremely grateful when her younger sister Lucy picked up instead. Lucy was happy to talk to him, she’d never been a big Lex fan, but she’d told Clark that Lois would talk to him when they were both back at the Planet. 

Lena had done a few chores with Clark, which slowed him down immensely but he wasn’t going to tell her that. She was a quick learner though and he was sure that his parents would have things a bit easier until she went back to school. 

On the fifth day Clark got a call from Lionel Luthor while at work. 

“Is my daughter with you?”

“Lena is with my parents in Smallville.”

“Thank god. Lillian told me that she had arranged for Lena but something went wrong. I’ve called the school all day but no one was in. Finally I called the headmaster at home and he was able to track down the teacher that saw her walk away with a ‘fit farmer in a red truck who seemed like a friend.’ That idiot is done.”

“Lena called me after she had trouble contacting you.” Clark tried to keep his voice even. It had been five days. 

“I was in the air. I’d been on my way to the wedding, a bit late but I knew Lex would understand, a European merger is always a good present. When my plane landed to refuel I heard about Lex’s death and I was grounded as all my papers were suddenly no longer ‘good’. I had finally arranged a ride on an old friend’s plane when Lena called. At this point I was sure she’d already be at home.”

Clark accepted all of this, except that it would then take another three days to notice that Lena wasn’t home. 

“She’s doing okay. I know the funeral is tomorrow, do you want me to go back to my parents and bring her?”

“No. I don’t want to drag you into this any further. Lillian and I want to show solidarity so Lena will arrive with us. Can you give me your parents information? I’ll call ahead when I’m on my way. I will drop Lena off at school afterwards.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Clark went to the funeral, even though several people at the Planet recommended against it. Jimmy promised he would keep him out of the photos. Clark brought Lois, and then stood at a respectful distance unless she needed him. 

He had also brought with him a chess piece. At one point when no one was looking, he sped around to Lena’s side and slipped it with a note in her coat pocket. A few minutes later when the casket was lowered into the ground and everyone was walking back towards their cars he caught her eye. He put his hand on his pocket and gave her a look. Lena put her hand on her own pocket with confusion and then felt something inside. She put her hand in covertly, knowing there were cameras and eyes on her from all over. She didn’t pull out the Queen, but clearly recognized the piece. Another tear rolled down her face to join those she’d cried over her brother, but this one was bittersweet. 

When she had arrived back at school she took off her black funeral coat and took the piece out with the note she’d felt next to it.

“Whenever you need us, don’t forget that Lena Luthor will always get a warm welcome from the Kents.”


	2. Cousin Kara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First Clark gets a cousin and then he gets a roommate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All italics from here out are for when characters are speaking Kryptonian.

When Kara landed on Earth at age 13, her cousin Kal was already twice her age. He was already working at the Daily Planet, already almost dating Lois Lane, already Superman! When he found out about Kara he was so happy to have found another good Kryptonian, but . . . he didn’t really know what to do with her. 

_You were supposed to be a baby, Kal._

_I’m sorry, I guess?_

_I was supposed to take care of you._

_That’s okay. I can take care of myself._

_Yes, but I was supposed to take care of you._

_It’s fine._

_It is not. But I can take care of you now._

Clark didn’t know how to respond to that. Firstly his Kryptonian was really pretty basic, thankfully Kara kept using simple words now. When she’d woken up and had released a long string of the language at him and the rest of the DEO, he had understood the words “Where” “I” “Who” and several times with increasing urgency “the baby!!!”. Thank god he’d given some of the Kryptonian language disks to the DEO a few years back and they had an expert there. Once Kara had calmed down enough to actually talk to Clark she had started to cry and hug him. 

——————————————————————————————————————————

Clark doesn’t like to remember what happened after that, it doesn’t show a lot of forethought or compassion and the way he treated his cousin just wasn’t quite on brand for either Superman or Clark Kent. He tried to leave Kara with his parents in Smallville and enroll her in school there, but she wouldn’t speak her rudimentary English to anyone outside of himself and the Kents. He put her in an ESL class, claiming that her parents had been ex-pats and she grew up learning Kasnian, a language that conveniently no one in Smallville spoke. Kara promptly learned enough of the first languages of all her ESL classmates to befriend them and still spoke no English to her teachers. 

The first time Kara ran away she went straight to her cousin’s apartment. Kal had given her his earth name and phone number and she’d been able to piece together the rest. Ma and Pa Kent watched Superman on the news a lot and from the calls they made regularly to their son she could tell he lived in Metropolis. After her ESL class had covered transportation Kara waited a few days, practicing in secret with her classmates, then ditched school one morning once Pa Kent had dropped her off. With a bag full of food, and an extra shirt, Kara had gotten on a bus to her new home. She took out the paper that she’d stolen off the Kents’ fridge labeled “Clark’s New Address - Post Mxyzptlk attack” and asked a few people for directions. Her explanation that she’d gotten separated from her American cousin, and her hopeful eyes instantly got her a taxi, paid for by a kind stranger. 

The door had been locked but Kara remedied that and made herself at home. She threw away all of the food wrappers she’d amassed on her trip and went in search of more sustenance. She knew that Kal, like herself, had to eat a good amount a day. Her cousin would be fine with sharing. Maybe she could make something for both of them! Kara got to work.

——————————————————————————————————————————

“My parents have been looking all over, we don’t even know where she could have gone. I really appreciate you helping, Lois. I’m heading to my place now, and then I’m going to fl-look around town to see if she tried to come here. Yeah, you’re right. I should be checking in more often.” Clark walked into the apartment building and heard something coming from his floor. “Lois, wait, I hear something, let me call you back.”

He sprinted up the stairwell, glad no one was around, and sped down the hall. The door was closed but at an angle, like it had been ripped off its hinges and rested on the doorframe. It could be Kara, but it could be any number of his enemies. Then he listened more closely to the sound that had drawn his attention.

Don't real-E want to make it tuff  
I jus want to tell you that I've had E-nuff  
It might sound crazy but it ain't no lie  
Baby bye bye bye

He lifted the door gently and entered his apartment. “Is that NSYNC?”

 _"Kal! Hello! I didn’t know when you would be home so I just started cooking and then I found your radio. We’ve listened to this song at school. I’m pretty good at it._ Bye bye bye.” She smiled happily and stirred something on the stove. It smelled . . . interesting?

“What are you doing here, Kara?”

_“I came here to live with you, Kal. Your earth parents are nice but I should be where you are. You are my responsibility.”_

“I am not your responsibility, Kara. I am an adult.”

_“Does family not care for adults on earth, Kal?”_

“In English please, Kara.” 

“We are family. You are my baby cousin. Family is a, uh, responsibility, Kal. If that is not something you already know, I will teach you. I want to teach you everything about Krypton.” 

“I want to learn everything too, Kara. But you need to go to school, to fit in on earth. Maybe during the summer I can come visit, or you could come here for a bit. But right now you need to go back to Smallville.”

_“I will not.”_

“English, Kara.”

_“Kryptonian, Kal. You should be learning too. This is our language, and I will not let it die along with everything and everyone else.”_

“I’m sorry, Kara. You are right. _If you speak English, I will speak Kryptonian tonight._ ”

“Thank you.”

_“But you still need to go home.”_

“There is no more Krypton, my only home is with you.” Kara glared at her cousin.

“ _We can have dinner first._ ” Clark said, trying to appease her. “What did you make? Is this a Kryptonian recipe?”

“No. The ingredients are wrong for Kryptonian cooking.” Kara said sadly. “I made soup. Your earth mother said that anything can go in soup, and that soup is best when you add all your favorites.” 

Clark came into the kitchen and looked down at the pot that Kara was stirring. It contained all of his favorites certainly, but potato chip chocolate salsa banana soup was really not appealing to him tonight.

“Thank you, Kara. This recipe is certainly new to me. _Perhaps I could show you one of my favorite food places here in Metropolis and save that for tomorrow_.”

“Food places?” Kara repeated

“Restaurants.” Clark replied. “I don’t know the word in Kryptonian.”

“I don’t know ‘Restaurants’.” Kara replied. “Take me to the restaurant and I will tell you the word in Kryptonian.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

“I do not know the word for this in Kryptonian.” Kara said when they had sat down at a table and ordered their food. Clark had ordered for them and promised she would love it. “We have the word _Cafeteria_ which is somewhere that you eat at work with those outside your family or _picnic_ for eating outside in celebration of Rao. What is this?”

“On Earth you can eat food from many cultures and do so at any time. It does not have to be with your coworkers.”

“Even at _family meal_? At . . . dinner?”

“Yes.”

“On Krypton you do not eat the evening meal without your family. I enjoy spending time with the Kents, but they are a family that is yours and not mine, not yet. I should eat dinner with you every night.” 

“Kara, we can’t. But . . . I could visit more. I could do dinner with you twice a week.” 

“Three times.”

“We’ll see.”

Kara sighed. It was okay. She would help Kal realize the importance of family meal, and family in general. At the end of dinner she was quickly flown back to Smallville. Kara really needed to learn how to fly. She was 13, too old to be carried like a child and put in time out.

—————————————————————————————————————————

Kal was good to his word for a few weeks and Kara in return slowly started to speak English at school. He hadn’t asked it of her again, but Kara knew it was important to him. She also tried to see the Kents as an extension of her family, but it was hard. Kara knew who her family was. She knew her parents and her aunts and uncles, and she remembered meeting the tiny baby Kal. Everyone else that had been her family was gone.

When Kal didn’t come to dinner for almost two weeks because of “pressing deadlines and saving the world.” Kara decided that she was needed in Metropolis, no matter what her cousin thought. If he couldn’t come to dinner a quick flight away, maybe he wasn’t even eating!

This time she didn’t go to his home. She had learned from her friends that sometimes it took more than one person to change someone’s mind. The name Lois had come up several times when Kal came for dinner or when they spoke on the phone. Kal worked with Lois and was going to marry her. Well, he said they had gone on a date. This consisted of going to dinner and the movies; of wooing. Kara, at 13, understood wooing. She had read a lot on the subject while learning English and knew they would get married. Lois was going to be her cousin. She should get to know Kara and see that she was a part of the family. Then they could all live together. 

Kal and Lois worked at the Daily Planet. Kara had picked this up in conversation and figured it was the best way to find her soon to be cousin. She once again found a time to slip away and made her way by bus to Metropolis. Kara’s immersion into English helped her to get around but she was glad that no one on the bus wanted to talk to her, she needed time to prepare what she was going to say. Lois needed to agree with her, otherwise Clark never would.

Kara entered the newsroom from the elevator and looked around. There was no sign of Kal, and unfortunately she didn’t know what Lois looked like. Kal blushed and stammered whenever he talked about his partner so Kara hadn’t learned much other than that she was pretty. 

Kara walked up to the first pretty woman she saw and asked. “Are you Lois?”

“What?” The brunette sitting at the desk turned away from her computer and looked at Kara. “Am I Lois Lane? No way, darling. Lois wishes she were me.”

“Kal-Clark says Lois is very pretty.” Kara said in response, a bit annoyed that this woman was insulting her future cousin. “But you are pretty too.” She did still need help after all.

“Well thank you, little girl.” The woman smirked. “I’m Cat Grant. And you are . . .?”

“I’m Kara, Clark’s cousin.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that Clark had any family in town. It’s nice to meet you, Keira.”

“Kara.”

“That’s what I said.”

“No. It is not.” Kara said and sighed. She looked around the room. “Which one is Lois?”

“Lois isn’t here. She and Clark are out on a story. And why aren’t you looking for Clark?”

“I want to meet Lois. She’s going to be my new cousin. Clark does not need to know I am here yet.”

Cat laughed. “I like you, Kiera. Although I don’t know about Lois being your new cousin, I’d rather fill that role myself. Maybe I should page Clark and tell him you’re here and he’ll take me out on a date for being so helpful to his favorite cousin.”

“He has never mentioned a cat. He likes Lois.” Kara said. This woman couldn’t help her. She went to leave.

“Okay, okay. Why don’t you go in the interview room over here and I’ll call your parents to come get you.”

“You cannot.” Kara said, a bit sad but firm.

“It’s okay, I’m sure they’ll laugh about it. You coming here to meet Lois, it’s cute. What’s your mom’s number?” Cat had picked up her phone and was ready to dial. 

“You cannot call my parents. They are dead. Clark is my family.”

Cat put down the phone. “You live with Clark?”

“Yes.” Kara said but her quick turn of her head to hide her face gave her away.

“I don’t think you do, Kara.”

“I should. I will. I will meet Lois and tell her that Clark needs me and then we will tell him together that I will live with him.”

“You’re going to convince Clark Kent to change his mind? It’s not usually that easy, trust me, I’ve tried. Not even leopard print helps.”

“I don’t know that word, ‘convince’.” Kara said, reluctantly. She didn’t usually talk this much in English to people outside of Clark and the Kents. It was a bit embarrassing to not know every word but if this woman knew Clark maybe she could be trusted. She was beautiful and confident, Kara was a bit in awe.

Cat looked at Kara for a moment. “It means to talk to someone and have them think what you think.”

“So I need to convince Clark that I should live with him, not his parents.”

“You live with the Kents? I’ve met them before, they’re lovely people. Are you not related to his parents? Aren’t they your family too?”

Kara shook her head. “They are nice. But I am from Clark’s birth family.”

Cat’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know Clark was adopted.” 

“He is my only family.” Kara said. “So I will convince him.” There was steel in her voice and her eyes.

Cat smiled. “I’m sure you will, Keira. Now go in that room and I’ll make sure you get to meet Lois before Clark sees you.”

Kara smiled. “Thank you, Kitten.” and walked where she was directed.

Cat laughed, pulling out a notebook to jot a few things down before returning to write up her latest column.

A short while later a strange looking man with a very fake mustache came into the room where Cat had put Kara. 

“Hello. I heard there was someone looking to talk to me. You have information for me?”

Kara turned around in her chair. “Are you Lois?”

Lois looked at her and frowned. “Yes, and who are you? Cat said I had to come in here alone.”

“I’m Kara.”

“Kara?” Lois said. “Clark’s cousin? What are you doing here?”

“I came to meet you.” Kara said smiling. “I didn’t know that Clark’s Lois was a man, I apologize. No wonder Cat laughed at me.”

“A man?” Lois asked and then felt the mustache on her face and ripped it off. She took off the wig and overly large sports jacket as well. “No, sorry I was undercover.”

“Ah. Clark’s right. You are very pretty.” Kara said. “But the mustache is fine too.”

Lois laughed. “Thanks, Kara. Are you supposed to be in Metropolis right now? Clark didn’t say you were coming and I heard about your spontaneous trip last month.”

“I came to meet you.” Kara repeated.

Lois noted the evasion but like any good reporter, waited to hear what her source wanted to tell her. “Why is that?”

“You’re going to be my new cousin, I wanted to meet you.” Kara replied.

“Your new cousin?” Lois squinted. 

“When you marry. That is the right word, yes?” Kara asked.

“Yes?” Lois repeated sounding unsure.

“Good. When you marry, you will be my cousin and we will be family.” Kara said happily, glad she was being understood.

“But Clark and I just started dating.”

Kara waved her hand. “You will be my cousin.”

Lois smiled, her younger sister had similar thoughts about Clark being her new brother. 

“Well, then it’s nice to meet you, Kara.”

“Where is Clark?” Kara asked looking around.

“Cat said you wanted to talk alone.” Lois said surprised. “And I thought you wanted to meet me.”

“Yes. I wanted to make sure he will not interrupt.” Kara said. “He doesn’t listen to me sometimes.” 

“He doesn’t listen to me either, but then I don’t listen to him.” Lois told her and laughed a bit.

Kara was unsure about joining in the laughter. “You should both listen. I listen to Clark. He should listen to me.”

“If you were listening to Clark you would be in Smallville.” Lois said gently.

“No.” Kara shook her head. “He said he would come to dinner twice a week. He hasn’t come to dinner in ten days. So I came to check on him and to get you to help me convince him. I should live here.”

Lois thought this might be where the conversation was going. “I can’t help you convince Clark you should be here. Only you can convince Clark.” Then she thought about what Kara had just said. “How is Clark getting to dinner in Smallville twice a week? That must be really expensive and time consuming.”

From the way Kara looked at her Lois realized she hadn’t caught the full question. “Never mind, Kara.”

Kara smiled. “Please, Lois. I am only here to look after my cousin. My parents told me, this is my job.”

“Your job?”

“Is that not the right word? _Responsibility_ , it means, the thing I have to do.” Kara moved her hands around decisively to get her point across.

“Job is the right word, Kara. But I don’t think your parents should have said that.”

“It doesn’t matter. It is my job. I must be here to help Clark.” Kara couldn’t be talked out of this, her focus and entire reason for being on Earth.

“Okay. Well, Clark’s a good guy and everyone could use more family looking out for them, so I’m on your side, Kara. But I don’t think that will help you. Clark works a lot of weird hours here at the Planet, it would be tough on a kid and you might not see him that often.”

“More than in Smallville.” Kara grumbled then she heard a sound like a sudden whoosh. She recognized it from Clark’s visits to the Kent farm. “Anyway. Clark is here now. When he comes in here we will tell him together that I should stay.”

“I don’t think he’s back from the police station yet. He was checking on some stories we’ve been working on and I may or may not have snuck out to do more digging. But when he gets mad at me, you’re on my side, right Kara?”

“Of course. I will stand with you.” Kara said and stood by the door defiantly waiting for Kal to open it.

Lois laughed and was about to tell her she didn’t need to go into battle quite yet when Clark did open the door. “That was fast, Clark.”

Although Lois and Kara defended each other vigorously, noting that they were both capable and that there were some things Clark Kent didn’t get to control, at the end of Clark’s lecture to both Kara and Lois about sneaking off and doing things without worrying about safety, Kara was once more taken back to the Kents and Smallville. Thankfully Martha and Jonathan were very nice about it, apparently they hadn’t even been worried this time.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The third time Kara went to see Kal, she had a new plan and a new ally. Lois had stood with her, and she’d tried to fight for herself, but to get Kal to see that he needed to listen to family, she had to approach the right family.

“Martha. I really like you and Jonathan. You have been good to Kal and taken care of him when he was alone.” Kara began her rehearsed speech. “You are part of his life, but you have let him go so he could grow. He needs to grow not only as Superman, but also as a member of the House of El. He does not know everything, and should listen to his family, we are stronger together. To show him these things, I must be where he is.”

Martha smiled. “I think you’re right, Kara.”

“You do?” Kara asked.

“Yes, Kara. You’re absolutely right. You and Clark need to have each other around. Jonathan and I will help you move. It’ll probably take a week or so for everything to be set up for you in Metropolis but you start packing and I’ll tell Clark what’s going on.”

“It is that easy?” Kara asked.

“You need to listen to your own message, Kara. I know you aren’t ready for us to be part of your family yet, but you are part of Clark’s so I want what is best for both of you. I listened to you, but I had to wait until you were ready to speak.”

Kara blushed. “Thank you, Martha.”

“ _You’re welcome_.” Martha said in her rudimentary Kryptonian. Kara began to cry and swept Martha into a quick hug before running upstairs to pack her few belongings. 

——————————————————————————————————————————

“Clark, do you remember the day your father took you down to the storm cellar to show you the pod you’d come to Earth in? Do you remember how betrayed you felt? You’d always known you were different but we’d never told you all that we knew. We’d never told you that you were an alien.”

“I remember it, Mom.”

“We only had a few things we could show you that had come with you, and we knew nothing of your family. Still, you were obsessed over what little you knew and what more was out there.”

“You are my family, Mom, you and Dad.”

“Of course we are, Clark. We’d been your family almost your whole life before that and we always will be. And despite us not telling you everything, and your new obsession, you still had your whole life here. You had us and you trusted us. But Kara, she isn’t some teenager who has spent years with us and just needs a little extra love to help her grow, a support for her to explore herself. She’s an alien who has just one thing tying her to this world, one thing that is already not what she expected, and a lifetime of memories tying her to a place she’ll never see again. We could help you learn and grow into the man you are today because we were your family, people you could rely on, but right now, we aren’t Kara’s family. Your father and I are always here for you and for Kara, Clark. For now though, she needs to hold on to the only thing in her life that makes sense. Kara was sent here to protect you, Clark, and I don’t think she’s ready to tell you this but you need to take care of her too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basing my version of Cat Grant on both the Lois and Clark and the Supergirl versions. I like to imagine that at some point she shrunk several inches, went blond, and decided to rule the world.


	3. Sharing Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that Kara is in Metropolis, it's time to share some secrets.

Martha’s talk did the trick. Kara moved in with Clark and started spending a lot of her afternoons at the Planet. He told her that it was okay if she went other places, or hung out with people from her school, but now that Kara was where she was supposed to be she would barely leave his side if she could help it. 

Lois and Clark wouldn’t let her come on stories with them most of the time, though Kara had speculated a few times that Lois wouldn’t keep getting into trouble if Kara were there to take care of her. Lois had looked confused at that and Cat had burst out laughing. Cat told Kara to come see her whenever the do-gooders were too busy to appreciate her company.

Cat and Kara were soon as much of a team as Lois and Clark. Kara would do her homework at Cat’s desk and Cat would try to distract her with the best gossip of the day. Kara would shrug and every now and then tell Cat about the goings-on at her school. Kara heard everything. She knew what teachers let their students cheat on tests, which kids were fighting, and was always ready for a surprise fire drill. 

“Seems like you’d be a good gossip reporter, Keira. Stick with me and I’ll show you the ropes.”

“No thank you, Kitten. I want to be like Clark.”

“Clark’s a reporter, so am I. You could be any type of reporter, or have any other job.”

“A reporter is fine. I’ll be wherever Clark is.” Kara said dismissively.

“Forever?” Cat asked.

“Yes.” 

“You don’t want your own life?”

Kara thought about it. “This is my life.”

“Fine.” Cat replied, who was smart enough to remember that there was no point in arguing with a stubborn Kent. “I’ve done his job before. I can teach you.”

“Okay.” Kara said. “What do I do?”

“Every day, you come in and see me. You tell me about the kids at school, everything you see on your way here, even what you and Clark do at home. You take notes, and you tell me everything. We’ll start there.”

“Is this because you want to marry Clark?” Kara said suspiciously.

“The kids at school won’t help me marry your cousin, Keira, keep up, this is for you.”

Kara nodded. “And then what?”

Cat smiled. “And then you do whatever I ask. I am teaching you, so you have to do something to help me too. I’ll give you jobs and I’ll teach you how to be a reporter. Maybe an even better one than Clark.”

—————————————————————————————————————————

Kara returned from one of Cat’s tasks to see Clark and Lois fighting again. They’d been meeting with a scientist when a cyborg who called himself Metallo attacked them. Clark had gone to get help, Superman had saved Lois but only barely gotten them away. Lois had spent the next hour trying to find Clark after Superman had flown off. It was their usual fight, why did Clark always run? 

Kara gave Kal a look and walked over to Cat’s desk. She put down the chocolate bars and magazine and when Cat gave her a nod, began to report on the conversation she’d heard at the bodega. She was halfway through before she noticed that Cat was looking at her strangely. 

“Que?” Kara asked.

“Exactly.” Cat replied. “English please, Keira.” 

“But the conversation was in Spanish.” Kara argued.

“Yes, but my readers will be looking for it in a language they know.”

“It isn’t as passionate in English.” Kara said.

“Maybe we can print both.” Jimmy interrupted. As the only other young person on staff, he often took Kara’s side in anything.

“I’ll print my future magazine in multiple languages if you two would like.” Cat smiled. “But unfortunately I don’t have the clout to change what language the Daily Planet uses.”

“You can do anything.” Kara said, very sure of her mentor. Outside of Clark, Cat was her closest friend and one of the few people she was completely comfortable with.

“I suppose. But this is not the hill I’m going to die on today.” Cat said. “I’ll have to fight to get this in already, since I’m not really supposed to use underage sources.”

“The hill I’m going to die on?” Kara questioned, a little bit concerned for Cat.

“It means, you can’t win every fight.” Clark said as he walked over to say hello.

“You win every fight.” Kara pointed out.

“I think CK just lost that one to Lois.” Jimmy teased.

Clark scratched his head. “You’ve got that right, Jimmy. I think Lois needs a bit of time to cool down, and I certainly am to blame.”

Kara frowned. “I don’t understand. Lois is to be family, you should tell her the truth.”

“It isn’t that simple, I’ve told you that, Kara.” Clark said, as he’d said that morning, and the night before and probably the night before that.

“She’s going to be family, huh?” Jimmy said. “Bit early for that.”

“That’s just something Kara decided.” Cat said. “I like to believe I’ve still got a shot.”

“No shooting Lois.” Kara said.

“That’s another phrase.” Clark reminded her.

“I think I know Cat better than you do, Clark.” Kara replied and got a chuckle out of all of them.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Kara had thought about what everyone had said. How Lois said it was hard to change Clark Kent’s mind, and Cat said it too. How that had proved rather true in her own fight to live with and care for him. How Cat thought she had a shot with him still. Kara liked Cat, but Kal loved Lois and no one else should have a shot with him or Lois. Kara had learned that Lois had almost been married before and that sometimes Kal was still sad about it. Lois was clearly important and could not be taken from her cousin. What Kara didn’t understand was how Kal could not see the simple solution to his fights.

This was another instance where Kal needed to learn to trust family; Lois and her. So Kara waited until Superman had begun his rounds for the night and called Lois to come over. She made a pot of tea, as Martha had taught her, and turned on some music loud enough that her cousin would have to focus to hear their conversation. 

“Lois, you will be my cousin.” Kara began after getting Lois to sit down. Lois giggled a bit, she’d been wondering why Kara had called her over, the girl certainly was often a surprise, but this night appeared to be more of the same. 

“As a part of our family, there are things you must know.” Kara continued. “Clark is adopted and I am his birth cousin.” Lois nodded, she did know this although it hadn’t been widely known that Clark was adopted before Kara moved in with him. “We are not from Earth.”

“What was that last bit?” 

“Questions at the end please, Lois.” Kara said in a voice that Lois was sure came straight from one of her tired teachers. “I practiced this.” She frowned for a moment trying to find her place then finally reached into her pocket for a piece of paper that contained her speech. “Um, I am his cousin, I said that. We are not from Earth. Oh yes! We are from Krypton, a planet far away. Our planet was dying and-“

“But Superman is from Krypton!”

“Lois, please. I worked so hard on this.” Kara pleaded.

“I’m sorry, Kara, but this joke is too much.” Lois looked a little bit alarmed. She was starting to get that feeling she sometimes got when working with Clark, that she was on the edge of learning something, something she wasn’t quite ready to deal with.

“It isn’t a joke.” Kara insisted. “I can show you.”

“How?” Lois asked laughing a bit in disbelief. “Are you going to fly around the room?”

Kara’s face grew red. “No. I can’t fly yet and Kal won’t teach me.”

“Kal?” Lois asked.

“That’s Clark’s real name. Kal-El.”

Lois smiled, this was too crazy. “This is certainly quite a story you have Kara, but without proof I’m afraid I don’t believe that Clark and Superman are anything alike.”

Kara was getting upset. Lois didn’t believe her. She was supposed to help Kara and help Clark, she needed to understand. This was the hill Kara would die on. When Lois went to stand up, maybe even to leave, Kara shouted “No!” and picked her up. Lois was suddenly and unexpectedly cradled in Kara’s arms as she’d been in Superman’s so many times before. It wasn’t exactly proof of super powers but certainly beyond what one usually expected from children.

Shocked out of her panic, and with her brain scrambling to process, Lois shifted her face to look at Kara. “I’m sorry, Kara. Maybe you do have something to show me. Can you put me down?”

Kara noted the change in Lois’s tone and set her down. Maybe she’d been a bit hasty, it just all had to go right. Kara needed to fix this problem that was stopping her cousin and Lois from being happy. After all, what else was she here for other than to help.

“So, you can’t fly, but are you super strong?”

Kara smiled. “I am stronger than Kal.”

Lois laughed, thinking of the bumbling Clark Kent being strong. Then she remembered he was supposedly Kryptonian, as strong as the Man of Steel, and she frowned. “Okay, show me. Lift . . . “ She looked around the apartment. “That table.”

Kara walked over to the small table that Lois had pointed out and lifted it with one hand. “I don’t think this is proof. Sit back on the couch.”

Lois did as she was asked and watched in wonder as Kara proceeded to lift up the couch with her on it, again with one hand. When Kara set her down again, Lois asked “Can you read me your speech again? I promise not to interrupt.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Telling Lois the truth had not quite worked out as planned. After Kara finished her speech and Lois had all her questions answered, she thanked Kara and gave her a long hug then left for the night. Kara had been very pleased. But the next day Clark didn’t thank her, or tell her that she was in trouble. In fact it was almost a week before she knew that it had had any effect. Lois and Clark had come back from another interview and were once again fighting. Lois’s clothing was slightly scorched and Clark was clearly upset that she’d rushed back into danger to get her notepad. Kara looked over at both of them confused and received two quelling glances. Shrugging, she got back to work with Cat who was once again delighted by the interactions she saw between Lois, Clark, and Kara. That night though, Clark gave her an earful and kept dwelling on what he was particularly upset about. 

“Now that she knows I’m Superman Lois is even more reckless! And did you know that she slapped me, Kara? She knew I was Superman and that it wouldn’t hurt but she slapped me anyway. It could have hurt her hand to do it, but she risked it, knowing I’d be fine but still apparently deciding it was worth it, and she slapped me. She would have done it twice but I have super speed and backed away. What did you say to her?”

Kara went into her room and got her prepared statement. “Here.”

Lois, you will be my cousin. As part of our family, there are things you must know. Clark is adopted and I am his birth cousin. We are not from Earth. We are from Krypton, a planet far away. Our planet was dying and both of our parents chose to send us here. Clark, Kal-El, was a baby when he was sent here, but I was sent here at this age, and I got trapped along the way. As Kal’s older cousin I was meant to be his guardian, and intend to be from now on. You are a future member of the house of El, and I welcome you to our family. The House of El is strong and we belong together, you will be safe with us and we should be safe with you. Kal goes by Clark but you also know him as Superman. The House of El has extra strengths on this planet. Kal can fly, someday I will be able to as well, I don’t think you will be able to even after you marry him. I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you about us because Kal won’t and you two keep fighting because of it. Neither of you can keep the other one safe if this is a secret. No secret should ever be kept from family. You may now ask questions. 

Clark read quickly and then turned to Kara in disbelief. “Kara, this is pretty abrupt.”

“Abrupt?” 

“It means you didn’t tell her in the best way.”

“Well, you didn’t tell her at all.” Kara replied grumpily, remembering when she had to grab Lois to keep her from leaving.

“I was going to.”

“You were?” 

“Yes.” Clark said cagily. “Just, not for a while. I wanted to be sure.”

“You love her.”

“Of course.”

“Then you’re sure.” Kara insisted. “I’m sorry I ruined it but you didn’t say you were going to tell her and I thought you wouldn’t fight anymore.”

“Well, you were wrong. She slapped me very hard.”

“You are not hurt.”

“That’s what she said too! ‘Don’t pretend that hurt.’ But it sounded really hard.” 

“Is Lois okay?” 

“Yes. She just told me that she needs time. Maybe if I’d told her it would have been fine.” Clark sighed. “But maybe not. At least you wrote it all out. I’ve almost told her my secret a thousand times and I’ve never thought to write it out.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Kara patted him on the back. “She interrupted anyway.”

“Of course she did.” Clark laughed a bit. “But, she really does need time, she’s known me for years as both Clark and Superman. So I’m going to listen to her. Before you came, I used to sometimes work with the government to help out with big problems. They told me today they need me again. I’m going to go help the DEO with this big problem and give her time.”

Kara heard what he wasn’t saying. “And I will go with you.”

“Not this time. I asked.” Clark held up his hands to show he was innocent. “The DEO said that you are too young for training and they won’t put you in the field untrained. But, I won’t put you back with my parents, I think what you need now is someone your own age who you can talk to, really talk to, no secrets.”

Kara’s eyes widened. “Who is that?”

“The big problem I’m going to help with? So is one of my friends, Jeremiah Danvers. He has a daughter a few years older than you, Alex. She knows about aliens because both her parents work with them. I think Alex’s mom, Eliza Danvers, even knows some Kryptonian. The Danvers helped me to figure out some things about my powers at one point, maybe you can learn how to fly while you’re there.”

Kara thought about his offer. She might learn to fly, have a friend, speak Kryptonian. It was obvious that Clark had put some thought into this, and he had even asked if she could go. “Okay. I’d like to go meet Alex.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Kara was only supposed to stay with the Danvers for a week or two during summer vacation while Clark was away with Jeremiah solving the “big problem.” It ended up being over a month and while Kara berated Clark on his return for not staying in better touch, she was mostly distracted from her concerns over his safety by Alex and Eliza Danvers. Alex was happy to have a little sister for a while and happier still not to be alone with her mom for that long. Eliza Danvers was wonderful, but a little too involved for the moody 16 year old’s taste. Alex took Kara all over Midvale when she wasn’t busy with her school friends, and left her to Eliza’s mothering at night so she could sneak out. 

Alex taught Kara about the difference between big and little lies, and while Kara wasn’t convinced that you should ever lie to your family, she was also too happy hanging out with Alex to protest when they broke the rules. Alex joined in on Kryptonian and English lessons and helped Kara practice trying to fly in the quarries behind her high school. Sadly, Kara was still earthbound, but sometimes she’d hover for a moment before faceplanting. As time went by without much information from Clark and Jeremiah the two girls would sometimes lay outside at night looking up at the stars and talk about their concerns. 

“I should be there with them.” Kara said for the tenth time that particular night.

“You probably should.” Alex agreed. “You might not be able to fly, yet, but you’ve got the rest of your powers under control and I’d feel safer knowing my Dad had you around.” 

Kara gave Alex a huge smile. “I would take good care of your father.”

“I know you would.” Alex said. “Dad often goes on trips but this one is really long, and he’s never had to go with Superman before. Sometimes he helps Superman from home or Superman comes here when they want to study something, but this is weird.”

That made Kara sit upright. “Do you think they need our help?”

“I don’t know what I could do, and even if you could fly, flying around the world wouldn’t help if you didn’t have even a general location, which we don’t.”

Kara sighed. “You’re right. I can’t find them, but someday I’ll be able to help. When I’m old enough I’ll train with the DEO and Kal and then I can go on every mission. You could come too.”

Alex laughed. “I’m going to be a scientist like my mom, I don’t know what you’d need me for.”

“Your dad is a scientist too.” Kara pointed out. “And you can be many things. Kal is a reporter and Superman. You could be a scientist and go on missions.”

“Maybe. The missions would have to be really important, I wouldn't want any of my family to be worried, like I am right now.”

“They wouldn’t be worried, not if I were with you.” 

“Of course.”

“And I would always be with you. You, me, and Kal. We’d be a good team.”

“I’ll think about it.” Alex promised. It was an easy thing to promise her new friend. Alex knew about a lot more that went on in the world than most highschoolers but interacting with Kara, getting to be in on the secret and actually meet an alien, it had changed her life.

The next day Jeremiah and Clark were back, both had grown rough beards, their eyes were sad and everything about them looked tired. After Kara told Clark that he had to take better care of himself if he wasn’t going to let her travel with him, she told him she had good news. 

“What’s that?”

“Lois called while you were away. I don’t know what she had to do to get the Danvers’ phone number from Cat, but I think she doesn’t need any more time.”

Clark laughed and after a few hugs all around, they headed back to Metropolis.


	4. Attempted Murder and New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena meets Kara. Kara learns more about Clark's life before she came to Earth and why it isn't always easy to be Superman.

When Kara and Clark returned to Metropolis life returned more or less to normal. Clark and Lois still fought about Lois getting herself into danger, but at least she rarely snuck around to do it anymore, knowing that having Superman informed of her position was quite useful whenever she got in too deep to a story. Lois and Kara grew closer, the occasional rescue and recon mission that the two of them handled alone certainly helped. Kara still considered Lois an addition to her family and Lois was coming around to the idea herself.

One evening Kara was at home, waiting for Kal to return from patrolling the city, when his phone rang. Clark had told Kara not to answer his phone anymore, so she waited until it went to the answering machine, hoping it was Lois. If it were Lois, then Kara could pick up and tell her more about Krypton, something that both of them enjoyed. Instead a girl’s voice came out of the phone. “Hi Clark. It’s Lena. Can you believe they’ve done it again? This is the third time they’ve frozen my account this year because Mother is under investigation and I didn’t remember to bring cash on this trip to visit colleges. Luckily I’m just in Metropolis this time, maybe I can come by for dinner?”

The message ended and Kara sat there and thought about what she’d heard. This girl, Lena, clearly knew Clark well. Kara didn’t remember him discussing a girl named Lena before and she’d been on earth for almost a year, but Clark still needed to work on telling Kara important things about his life. This Lena was in trouble, she’d called for help. Kara looked at the clock. Clark was supposed to be home in another hour, but maybe Lena needed help before then, and Kara’s protective instincts drove her to help anyone, especially someone important to Clark. She would go rescue Lena herself but she didn’t know what Lena looked like and if she didn’t know who Lena was, maybe Lena didn’t know who she was. It would make the entire rescue very difficult. Kara hit the watch her cousin had given her in case she ever needed him to come protect her, which was unlikely of course but the watch was useful now so she wouldn’t complain for the moment, and then she waited. The watch was loud, really really loud, Kara couldn’t believe everyone in the neighborhood didn’t know there was trouble. She went to cover her ears but that just put the sound closer. She silenced the watch by pushing every button on it until it stopped shrieking. 

Three seconds after that, Clark flew in the window that Kara quickly ran to open when she heard him coming. He looked around in panic when he landed, “What’s wrong, Kara?”

“Hi Kal, you got a call.”

“Kara.” Clark slumped out of his tense and heroic pose, “You don’t need to use the signal watch every time I get a call.”

“You got a call from a girl named Lena, she said she needs help again.”

Clark looked alert again as he moved to play the message. After it finished he picked up his phone to give her a call. It was unlike Lena not to be prepared, but he was always happy to see her, and since Kara had come to live with him Clark hadn’t seen Lena at all. They’d kept in touch over email but he would be happy to introduce two of his favorite people. They arranged to meet near Metropolis at a restaurant that both Kara and Clark loved, Clark promised Lena it was a quick walk for them and they’d be there in no time. Clark told Kara a bit about the girl they were going to meet as they raced each other to the dumpling shop. “She is the sister of a man who was a good friend of mine, we’ve known each other for years. I think you’ll like her.”

When they arrived at the restaurant, Kara saw a beautiful girl with dark hair jump up from her table to come greet Clark. She gave him a quick hug and went to sit back down, but Clark wouldn’t let her get away that quickly. 

“I haven’t seen you in a year, Lena. You need to give me a proper hug, I promise I won’t have it published in the Planet.”

Lena blushed. “Sorry, Clark. You know I don’t get much hugging practice in. I haven’t been to see your parents since I got back from studying abroad, so I think my last hug was around Christmas.”

When Clark let Lena go, she stepped back and looked Kara over. “Clark, an introduction? I thought when you said ‘we’ on the phone that you were bringing Lois.”

Kara stepped around Clark. “I am his cousin, Kara.”

Lena looked at Clark then back to Kara. “So you’re Kara? Martha and Jonathan mentioned you in their letters. I’m excited to meet another Kent.”

“I am not a Kent, Lena. But I am excited to meet you too.”

Lena smiled and was about to speak when she was tackled to the ground by Kara and heard glass shattering next to her as two gunshots went off. Kara kept her pinned down for a few seconds even after they heard a car peeling away. She looked around and noticed Clark was gone.

“Where did he go?”

Kara’s face twisted. “Probably to call the police. Lois is always complaining about him running off when trouble comes and now I see why. This is very frustrating.”

“What’s so frustrating?” Lena asked, wondering why that was the emotion Kara felt after almost getting shot.

“Clark clearly wants me to stay here and protect you but I would rather help him.”

“I think he can call the police on his own, Kara. And why do you think he left you here to protect me. How old are you?”

“Fourteen, I think.” 

“You think. Okay. Well, I’m fifteen. Maybe Clark thought that I would take care of you.”

Kara laughed, pulling Lena off the floor and getting her into a chair. “I don’t think so, it’s always my job to take care of people. My parents sent me here to take care of Clark, Clark left me here to take care of you. It’s okay. I’m good at it. But I can’t protect you and Clark if you are in different places. _Damn Kal, we will talk about this._ ”

“What was that?” 

“Uh, Kasnian.”

“That didn’t sound like Kasnian.” Lena replied confused. “I may not be fluent but Luther Corp has enough dealings with Kasnia that I have an idea of the language.”

“It’s a local thing, what do you call it, the words sound different in an area.”

“Oh, a dialect. I guess that makes sense. Where in Kasnia do you come from?” Lena tried to distract Kara from her worry over Clark.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter. I think I should take you back to our place now, for safety.” Kara said, trying to think what her cousin would do. “Clark will find us, and they can’t shoot us from the street if we are on the third floor.”

“Are you sure we shouldn’t wait for him to return? I think I saw a pay phone right around the corner. He's probably coming right back.”

“No, no. He is a reporter. Cat tells me that a good reporter never stops following their story and Clark is the best. Plus, he would not let them try to hurt you again. He left you with me, I will take you to a safe place. When we get there though, can you cook? Clark won’t eat the food I make.”

Kara began to pull Lena out of the restaurant, no one there tried to stop the two teenagers from leaving. 

“Cat? Cat Grant?” Logically Lena knew that Clark was a journalist, and she’d read everything he’d ever had published, but to her he’d never been anything but a friend. She’d never thought any question he’d asked her or story she’d told him would ever end up on the front page and so far it hadn’t. Trust wasn’t an easy thing for a Luthor, but somehow it came naturally when dealing with a Kent. Case in point right then, when she was letting a child lead her away from the scene of an attempted murder.

“Yes. Kitten is my mentor.” Kara replied steering Lena onto the busier and safer streets and looking around suspiciously.

“She lets you call her Kitten?” Lena was confused. As the best gossip journalist around, Cat Grant had an interesting reputation, she knew everyone’s secrets and was never anything less than impeccable, sultry, and fierce. It wasn’t a good idea to be on her bad side.

“She calls me Keira.” 

Lena thought on that for a few minutes, on these relationships she'd never considered, thought about Clark being a journalist, the kind who was likely investigating the shooting that almost just happened instead of just being a kind farmer who was always around to help, while his maybe fourteen year old cousin who had just saved her life brought Lena halfway around the city. Finally she snapped out of mulling over what she knew and didn’t know about her friend and realized they still weren’t there yet. 

“Didn’t you and Clark walk to the restaurant in like three minutes?”

Kara sighed. “Yes, but we took a shortcut. I can’t take you that way. Now come on, it is only another block. If you are tired, I can carry you.”

Lena laughed. “I’m not that small.”

“You are very small, Lena. I promise, I could carry you for miles.”

“Well, you did seem pretty strong earlier, Kara. You aren’t really that much like your bumbling cousin, are you?”

“I am stronger than him, but he doesn’t like to hear that. That’s why he left me to protect you.”

Lena laughed again. Kara may not be quite like the other Kents, but she was just as enjoyable to be around. “Maybe you’re right. You’re certainly stronger than I am. I’m glad I have you here to protect me.”

Kara stopped on the sidewalk. “You are? Clark never says that. Thank you. I work so hard to take care of him and he never says he’s glad.”

Lena frowned. “That’s strange, Clark is always so thoughtful.”

“He doesn’t know what to do with me.” Kara replied. “He didn’t know I existed until last year and I have changed his life. It is a lot.”

“Still, he should say thank you. You’ve done a great job of protecting me so far. I mean, you tackled me to the ground in time and you’ve managed to get me back to your apartment, or nearly so. I’m so glad I wore walking shoes for college tours today. You’re very adept for your age.”

Kara almost went to hug Lena, but remembered she was still on protection duty, she couldn’t fail Clark now. Instead she turned her brightest smile on Lena and grabbed her hand to lead her across the street to their building. Lena looked at their joined hands and smiled. It was easy to let Kara protect her, and even easier to thank her for her help.

They got into the apartment without any issue and after looking over the food in the fridge Lena immediately began to cook. Kara asked her a few questions about what she was making, apparently it was a dish that Lena often made with Martha, that led into a discussion of the Kents and eventually a conversation about her school and why Lena was looking at colleges when she was only fifteen.

The food was nearly ready, Lena was just finishing up the garnish when Kara heard Clark coming up the stairs. She knew it was him because she’d heard him quick-change on the way up, tripping over a few stairs and swearing once in Kryptonian. Kara didn’t want to interrupt Lena, who was talking very enthusiastically about all of her research plans, and how she was hoping to find a college with certain high tech lab equipment that she’d been dying to mess around with when Clark opened the door.

Lena pushed Kara behind her and held the knife she’d been using to dice parsley like she knew how to use it to kill a man. 

“Oh, it’s just you, Clark. After an attack like that, didn’t you think it would be nice to announce yourself?”

Clark apologized and gave Kara a look, she’d known they weren’t in any danger after all. But Kara was too busy looking at how Lena had been ready to protect *her*. “ _Life goals or wife goals?_ ” She asked her cousin.

Clark’s annoyed look changed to one of confusion. “ _What?!_ ”

“Do you not know the phrase?” Kara asked him.

“I know what you said. _I just didn’t know you liked women._ ”

“ _I like everyone, but I really like her._ ”

Clark shook his head and smiled. 

“In English, please.” Lena requested.

“Sorry.” Both Kara and Clark said sheepishly.

“Thank you for bringing Lena back here, Kara. I hoped you would do that.” Clark came into the kitchen and had a seat next to Kara.

Kara gave Lena a smug look which turned into a bright smile when Lena responded. “She did a great job protecting me, Clark. Your cousin is quite fierce.” 

“Was there any trouble?” He asked worried.

“No. But I would have handled it.” 

“Of course you would have.” Kara was delighted to hear that both Clark and Lena were sure of her abilities.

“Where were you?” Lena asked Clark. “You were gone awhile, Kara was sure you were trying to figure out what happened.”

“Yes. I was able to track down a lead, I think you’re in danger, Lena.”

“Well, after that attack I thought I might be. I think I should tell you there was also a problem at the school today. When my potential advisor was showing me around the labs one of the experiments caught fire. It was really bizarre, almost all of the safety features of the lab turned out to be broken, possibly sabotaged, thankfully with some quick thinking we were able to neutralize the fire with chemicals from another nearby workstation.”

“We?” Kara asked, having heard part of this story already.

“Fine. I thought to grab the two solutions that would be able to quench the fire.”

“ _Wife goals, definitely._ ” Kara said to Clark and then turned to Lena. “You are very impressive.”

Lena blushed. “The fire damaged the few things I’d brought with me, including my wallet. I told you on the phone that I didn’t bring any cash because I wasn’t going to mention the fire, I didn’t want to worry you. Now though, between someone locking my accounts, the lab incident, and this attack, it’s clear there was a plan to take me out when I'd be vulnerable.”

“I agree.” Clark began. “It appears to be the work of Cadmus.”

“That company that tried to raise Lex from the dead?” Lena looked ready to throw up.

“The very same. I’m so sorry Lena, I know this can’t be easy.”

“Cadmus are full of monsters, Clark. Those scientists are sick. My brother, whether he was the man we wanted him to be or on the way to destroying the world like everyone says, he should be left alone.”

Kara went and hugged Lena now. “I’m sorry. I do not anything about your brother, but all those who die should be left to peace. They are to be remembered, not returned.” 

Lena looked at Kara and saw some of the sadness she felt reflected in her new friend’s eyes. “Thank you, Kara.”

Clark reached out his arms and put a hand on either girl's shoulder. “Don’t worry, Lena. We will take care of you, protect you, until this all blows over. I’ve asked Lois to help me investigate for now. We both want to help, and we'll try to keep your name out of everything as much as we can. I don’t think anyone would expect you to be staying with me, and Kara as long as you two weren’t followed,” Kara nodded. “Then you should be safe here.” With that Clark left again, and the girls were alone. Despite the initially somber mood, Kara was able to get Lena to make her more food and eventually to watch a movie together. The next day would have been a school day but it took less than a minute for Kara to convince Lena that Clark couldn’t possibly expect her to go to school and leave Lena alone. Instead Kara persuaded Lena to teach her. “I’ll be leaving the ESL classes soon anyway, and I really need to catch up on science, which you are so good at. Math makes sense to me, it’s pretty similar in any language, but science has so many new words to learn.”

“I’d imagine that writing would be harder than science.” Lena said. “At least the concepts must have been the same before. Gravity, weather patterns, biology, none of that can really be so different once you learn the new names.” 

Kara snorted at that. “You’d be surprised, Lena. Anyway, writing is taken care of, that’s what I do every day with Cat. Though, I should call her in a bit to tell her I won’t be there after school. I bet Lois and Clark will forget and I don’t want her mad at me. One time I forgot to translate my notes for her and she dumped three perfectly good cups of coffee in the trash and made me make a fourth.”

“That’s awful, Kara. Why do you work with her?”

“Oh. Cat is the best. Also, she did ask me to translate the notes three times so I think each cup of coffee was for me ignoring her. You know she actually just pushed the cup into the trash one time while making eye contact with me. I understand why her name is Cat.”

“You think she’s named Cat because she's like a cat?”

“I don't know. I didn’t say she is a cat. One time I did bring her a bowl of milk as a treat, but I understand now that that was wrong. Don’t tell anyone I told you that, I think she’ll kill me.”

“Well, we wouldn’t want that. Why don’t you call her now and tell her that you won’t be coming by and then we can work on some science.”

Kara brightened and did just that. Cat was very agreeable on the phone and only asked one or two questions about why she couldn’t come in, which made her a bit nervous but then Lena put her hair up and started writing a lesson plan on the wall and Kara suddenly understood why Alex had a crush on her history teacher. The authority, the knowledge, Kara was so distracted she hung up before Cat had even finished telling Kara her next assignment. 

——————————————————————————————————————————

It took three days for Lois and Clark to crack the case and for Cadmus to go underground again. Apparently one of Lex’s old personal assistants, Nigel St. John, had been recruited by Cadmus some weeks ago to assist in another plan to resurrect the dead billionaire, but had double crossed them in the end. A Luthor still held the purse strings for Nigel and to get back what was stolen from them, Cadmus went after Lena. Superman intercepted the exchange of the invaluable and volatile element Nigel had stolen before it got back into the hands of Cadmus and several underlings on either side were arrested. Unfortunately all of the major players escaped, but Lena would be safe for now. 

Clark gave Lena some of the details about what happened, leaving out the fact that one of her parents had been threatened with her death if they didn’t hand over radioactive material. He also gave her a signal watch, just like the one Kara had, before she left. “Superman wanted me to pass this on.”

“I don’t know that Superman would save a Luthor.” Lena said sadly, and a little bitter.

“He’d better.” Kara said looking right at Clark. “But it doesn’t matter. I will protect you if you need it Lena. You can hit that button or you can call me here or,” Kara slipped a piece of paper into Lena’s hand. “or you can email me. But, I’ll be there. You will be safe, Lena.”

Lena remembered the note she’d received from Clark with a similar sentiment on another stressful day many years ago. She didn’t cry this time but it was a near miss. “Are you sure you aren’t a Kent, Kara? You two really are very much the same.”

Kara could tell it was a compliment, even though it hurt to hear herself called anything other than Kara Zor-El, so she smiled. “Any good person would want you to be safe, Lena. You are incredible.” She blushed a bit at this point. “I’m so glad that I got to meet you.”

Lena blushed a bit too. “I’m glad too, Kara.” She held up the note. “I’ll stay in touch.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

“Alex agrees with me that we should tell Lena you’re Superman.” Kara shouted to Clark because super hearing be damned, he wasn’t paying attention.

“Sheesh, Kara. A little quieter please? Of course Alex agrees with you. She’s your best friend and you two agree on everything.”

“Excuse you, I dress like the Easter bunny and Alex has never worn a pastel in her life.”

“I stand corrected.”

“Good, so I can tell Lena now?”

“Kara. Do you remember how Lois reacted when you told her?”

“I would let you read my speech first this time.”

“It isn’t that. Your speech was actually not too bad. The issue is that it takes people awhile to wrap their head around the idea that someone they actually know is Superman. They have to think about all of their interactions with both Clark and Superman and it feels like I lied to them.”

“You did lie to them, Kal. And I don’t want to lie to Lena.”

“Oh. Is she going to be family?” Clark teased.

Kara blushed. “Wife goals or not, she should know the truth. You are like family to her Clark. Every time Lena writes to me she asks how you are and tells me another story of you helping her. She should know that there is even more good in you to love.”

“Kara. You heard Lena mention her brother, Lex? Do you know how he died?”

Kara shook her head.

“Lois and Lex were going to get married. Lex had asked me to be his best man, even though he knew I had some feelings for Lois, I never told him how deep they were and I agreed. On the other hand I told Lois, a day before the wedding that Lex was corrupt and she should call it off, and then I told her I loved her. I made a lot of mistakes that day, trying to both support and cancel the wedding, but none compared to not saving him. I was supposed to be at the ceremony, but Lex had lured me, well Superman, and trapped me in a Kryptonite cage before everything started. It weakened me. I barely made it out of that cage alive while everything was going on above me. From what I heard from Perry and Jimmy after, the two of them burst into the wedding with the cops, right before the ‘I do’s’, where Lex fought off the arresting officers and fled. He came down into the basement where I was supposed to be trapped, ready to kill me for everything I’d done to help reveal his crimes, but I had gotten out and was hidden, trying to recover my strength. He left and I managed to get changed out of my costume, limping outside as Clark Kent just in time to see Lex jump from the top of the building. The cops had chased him into his office, there was no other way out and he said he’d rather die free. I don’t know if he thought Superman would catch him. I don’t know if he thought there’d be a parachute or a helicopter. He always had a plan before, but that day he just jumped. I was on the ground, hardly able to stand when I saw him step onto the railing. Lois was outside the building with the rest of us, standing there in her wedding dress, she didn’t know what was going on. When he jumped I tried to fly. I tried to get off the ground. I would have revealed myself to everyone at that moment if I could have saved him, but I couldn’t, I had nothing left. I just held Lois as she cried. After you told Lois that I was Superman, she needed time, and that was one thing we talked about when she told me she knew my secret. Lois had talked with Superman about being trapped during the wedding and why I couldn’t save Lex, but now she needed to hear it again. Did I really let him fall because I was too weak or because I loved her or because I thought he was a monster?”

Clark had started to cry part way through his story. “Kara. Lena was eleven when Lex died. I was her friend. I was his friend. How could I let him die?”

“You didn’t ‘let’ him die.”

“If you tell Lena the truth, what will happen to her? My parents and I love Lena. We’ve talked about telling her before, but she was so young and she needed us. Now we've kept it from her for years. How will she trust us?”

“She is strong, Clark, and so smart. If you don’t tell her, she’ll figure it out.”

“Not yet, Kara. Give me more time.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Lena showed up to the upscale restaurant halfway between Metropolis and Smallville in the least flashy car her father was willing to let her borrow. This interview or meeting that Cat Grant had set up with her was way out of left field and she neither trusted it, nor wanted it noticed.

“What are we doing here, Ms. Grant?”

“Oh, did I not mention? I was thinking of doing a puff piece about you going to college at such a young age. ‘The Hope of the Luthors’ or some such thing.”

Lena raised one eyebrow. “That’s certainly nice of you though I do have to point out that Lex started college at thirteen.”

“I won’t be mentioning Lex.”

“You are going to write a gossip column about me and not mention Lex?”

“Not once.”

“And what’s in it for you?”

Cat smiled. “Well, you see I have this little birdie, I think you’ve met her. Blonde, an absolute pistol, very fond of brilliant ambitious women?”

“Kara. Yes, I’ve met Clark’s cousin.”

“Oh. Is she just Clark’s cousin to you? I was under the impression that you two were friends.”

Lena didn't know how to play this, Cat had something and she didn’t know what it was. 

“We’re friends.” She agreed tentatively.

“Good. Well your ‘friend’ thinks very highly of you and I think quite highly of her. Clark Kent is a great reporter, but I can’t poach him. He’s pretty attached to Lois, no wonder there, and neither of them would leave Metropolis for anything. Kara though, she’s going to be an amazing reporter, and I know it. Someday she’ll need room to grow and I’ll have a spot waiting.”

“So you want to write something nice about me so that Kara will keep working with you.” It all seemed a bit silly to Lena.

“This is a larger and longer scheme than that, Ms. Luthor, but that’s certainly a part of it. She’s a unique person and I know that. She’s got vision too. So when she talks my ear off about someone for a few weeks, about how brilliant and special they are, I’m going to listen and I’m going to stay on your good side.” 

“Which includes writing a puff piece on me.”

“Several, I’m sure, over the years. It's going to take a lot of work to be a trusted CEO of a corporation with such a tattered past. But for now, let’s start by getting the media to remember that Luthors are brilliant and that other Luthors exist than Lex. Kara’s been gushing about your plans to help people, so come on, tell me all about your ingenious vision for a brighter tomorrow and I’ll tell the world. Just don’t mention my ulterior motives to Kara for now. I’m sure you’ll figure out why I want to keep this a secret soon enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Lex in this story is not the Lex of Supergirl. He doesn't inspire the same hatred in any of the characters, and is genuinely mourned by most of them even though he wasn't the man he pretended to be.


	5. Adopting Alex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara shows once again her need to protect and Clark ends up with another roommate.

Alex was Kara’s best friend. They emailed and were on AIM every day and called each other often. The two girls not only shared secret knowledge of other planets and peoples but also their own identities. Alex had come out to Kara shortly after hearing Kara describe Cat for the first time. Alex asked Kara if she was into women, and Cat specifically. Kara admitted that her mentor was amazing, talented, and beautiful but said that she might be a little too old, and far too interested in Clark, for her taste. She never denied her interest in women though.

“Kara, aren’t you really like in your early forties or something?”

“You don’t age in the Phantom Zone, Alex.”

“Right, right. I’m just saying technically she isn’t too old for you.”

“There’s still the Kal thing.”

“You’re right. If only Cat Grant had better taste.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Alex was delighted when Kara developed a love interest, talking about aliens and other planets was cool, but sometimes she just wanted to talk about girls.

“So you still haven’t asked Lena out yet?”

“We only met once, Alex!”

“But you email her all the time, your away messages on AIM are all super obviously about her and also you know, you love her.”

“Maybe. Romance is weird on this planet. Ugh.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Despite the distance and the frequency with which they talked they never ran out of things to say.

“Can we stop talking about your history teacher now?”

“Did you watch the most recent episode of Buffy?”

“I forgot.”

“Then no. We have nothing else to discuss and we’re going to keep talking about Mrs. Dumal and how much I like her hair.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Clark had gotten used to hearing both Kara’s and Alex’s opinion on every aspect of his life; why hadn’t he proposed to Lois yet, when he was going to talk to Lena about being Superman, would throwing Kara off a cliff help her learn to fly? Every time Kara talked about Alex or talked to her on the phone she was happy, and Clark was delighted to see she had a friend. They'd never had a fight that lasted long, so Clark wasn’t expecting it when one day Kara came home from the Planet, clearly upset, and went into her room, but didn't talk to Alex. 

Then Kara came out of her room less than a minute later with a backpack and a look of determination that Clark hadn't seen since Kara moved in. 

“Where are you going, Kara?”

“To Midvale.”

“To Midvale, on a school night?”

“School is less important than Alex.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Yes, but she won’t tell me what. I promised I’d be there for her, and that I’d protect her, so I have to go to Midvale to figure out what’s wrong and to help her. Stay out of trouble while I’m gone baby cousin.”

Clark rolled his eyes at her last comment and put a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t we find out all the facts first?”

“The fact is, Alex needs me.”

“What did she say?”

“I asked her how the science fair went today, because she was totally going to win, but she said she skipped it. I asked her why and she told me she didn’t want to talk about it. I called and she wouldn’t answer. I called again and Eliza didn’t even answer. Eliza works from their lab at home, she’s always there and always picks up. Something is wrong and the next bus leaves soon.”

“Kara. Give me a minute to call the Danvers myself and if no one picks up I will fly you to Midvale, you’ll be there in ten minutes instead of three hours.”

“Fine.” Kara put her backpack on the couch, but didn’t sit next to it. She was ready to run to Midvale if she had to.

Clark tried the Danvers’ number and the phone rang a few times before finally going to voicemail. Kara gave Clark a look and walked over to the window. “You know I don’t like to be carried but I need to be there, now.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

They landed in the Danvers’ yard and saw the lights were all on. Kara ran up to the door and let herself in. “Alex! Alex you come down here and tell me what’s wrong.”

Clark heard sobbing from upstairs. He knew Kara heard it too and she ran towards it. “Alex. Tell me what’s wrong. I came to help you. Please!”

Clark heard the door open and Kara rush in to hold Alex and hush her cries. He went in to look around. Kara would call him if she needed him.

He didn’t see Eliza or Jeremiah anywhere but there was no sign of forced entry or emergency except in the Kitchen where the table was covered with paperwork, but that chaos was nothing new. Then he heard a car pulling into the driveway and walked quickly outside.

“Eliza. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

Eliza Danvers walked up to him cautiously and led him back inside. “Clark, I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Kara was beside herself because Alex wasn’t talking to her.”

Eliza smiled a little bit despite the worry that Clark could almost feel coming off of her. “I’m glad that Alex has a friend like Kara. Especially now.”

“Why especially now, what’s going on Eliza?”

“Jeremiah is missing. He's been gone a month and we haven't heard anything from him in two weeks. I finally decided to tell Alex today that something is wrong because it's been too long.”

“He's missing? What project would take Jeremiah away from home for a month?”

“Clark, after you stopped working with the DEO, Jeremiah had to stay. I know you had your principles and couldn’t work with people who kept Kryptonite around, but he knew that they weren’t going to get rid of it. Jeremiah stayed so that he could keep an eye on all of them, especially Henshaw.”

“And now he’s missing.” Clark began to pace. “I’ll find him Eliza.”

“I’d rather you didn’t get involved, Clark. The DEO is not a good place for aliens right now. If you aren’t working for them, they won’t help you.”

“What do you need then, what can I do?”

“You can watch over Alex for me. I’m going to find out what happened to him myself and I need someone to watch my daughter. I was going to leave her with my family but we can't tell them what's really going on and Alex needs support. Thankfully there is no one I trust more than you, and no one Alex loves outside of myself and Jeremiah, more than Kara. They may not have known each other long but those girls have a bond. I hope it’s only a few months, but I could be gone longer. Alex only has a year left of high school. Bring her to Metropolis, enroll her there, and take care of her.”

Clark had heard Kara repeating every word of their conversation to Alex, as he expected her to, and was thinking about how to respond when the upstairs window slid open and he heard Kara say to Alex, “I promised you I’d keep your family safe. Let’s go now. I’ll find your dad myself.”

“No. Come on, Kara. How are we going to get out of here? You can’t even fly. And my mom said it’s too dangerous. I didn't tell you because it isn't safe for aliens.”

“It wasn't safe for your father, either. Come on, I can handle it. I can fly.” Kara insisted loudly. Clark heard Alex whisper that she didn’t believe her, and neither did he. Kara wouldn’t have kept that secret. Firstly because she didn’t believe in keeping secrets from family and second because it drove her crazy that Clark could fly and she couldn’t.

“Look, if you need me to fly to save your father, I’ll fly right now.” Clark heard Kara packing things into a bag at super speed, presumably Alex's clothing. He knew Eliza could tell something was wrong, maybe she’d even heard the window open or some of Kara’s words. She was waiting to see how he was going to react, to know if anything was really wrong, and so far he wasn’t sure enough of the situation to get involved.

“Kara, it’s okay. My mom said she’d find my dad.”

“But we should help.” Kara had started to climb out of the window.

“Get back in here.”

Kara dropped two bags out the window, Clark heard them both thump softly on the ground. “Get out here with me, before Kal notices. I’ll protect you and we’ll find your father.” 

The thumps were followed by the sound of a tussle, Alex was trying to pull Kara inside. “GET BACK IN HERE KARA.”

Kara looked back at Alex and jumped. There was one more thud, this one louder, as she hit the ground. Alex leaned out the window to see if her friend was okay but her hand slipped and she pitched forward out into the cold evening air, she only managed to gasp as she fell she didn't have time to call out-Clark had heard enough and raced outside the house to catch Alex but when he got outside he saw her cradled in Kara’s arms, who was hovering a few feet off the ground. She had never managed more than a few inches before.

“I told you I could protect you.”

“And fly.” Alex said looking down.

Kara looked down as well and tried not to be surprised. “Yeah, see?”

Alex looked back up at Kara’s face with a smile and then turned to Superman, her smile fading into concern. “Do you think my mom can find my dad without your help?”

“She has my help whenever she needs it. But she might be right that, for now, the best way to get information is to work from within. I can’t trust the DEO and they barely trust me, Eliza will be able to get much more information than I could.”

Alex tapped Kara on the shoulder and Kara dropped them to the ground, it was a bit sudden but showed that she had some control over their descent. When she put Alex down, she held onto her in a hug for a moment. “You have my help whenever you need it too, Alex. Don’t shut me out again, nothing is too dangerous. If you said the word we’d go save your dad right now.”

Alex looked at her friend, conflicted between protecting two people close to her, Clark and Kara, and rescuing her father. She hugged Kara a little tighter and then broke free. “That’s okay. I trust my mom, and your cousin. They can handle it for now. Anyway, my mom said she needs someone to take care of me for now, and who could be better than you, Kara?” With that she walked back into the house, meeting her mom at the door and giving her a long hug too. Kara watched and tried not to think about her own separation from her parents. The pain of leaving them behind had been worse than seeing everything else she'd loved destroyed. Kara would make sure that Alex saw her mom and dad again. No one should have to say goodbye like this.

“I guess since you can fly now, you’ll be able to help carry Alex’s luggage.” Clark teased, attempting to distract Kara from the pain that had come across her as they watched Alex and Eliza.

Kara allowed herself to be pulled away with a final look at Alex and then jumped back into the air, successful in her attempt to halt gravity. She let the feeling of flightlessness wash over her, the joy of the air. “I'll carry all of it! Can you believe I did it? I can fly now Kal! This is amazing. I want to do this every day!”

“Not around Metropolis, you have to go to Smallville if you want to mess about.”


	6. I'm not a Kent, You're a Kent!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara sees Lena again, in her happy place.

After an initial adjustment period where Kara and Alex had to get used to sharing a bedroom in a small apartment, the two were thick as thieves again. Clark encouraged Alex to take advantage of some of the things a city could offer a teenager that Midvale couldn’t, such as the ability to explore without adult supervision. The girls were together most nights, but Alex had found a coffee shop she liked and Kara left her alone sometimes to flirt. On those nights, usually when Clark had a date as well or ‘working on a story with Lois’ as he called it, Kara would fly to Smallville to mess around with her powers and to have dinner with the Kents. She was still working to see them as part of her family, and that included following her firm belief that family should have dinner together regularly, so she would go visit them and bring them news of Clark and Alex. 

On one of these nights, Kara was given the signal by Alex that they’d reconvene later, and with Clark and Lois out on a story, Kara turned up at the Kent's without notice. They never minded and regularly prepared enough food for several extra people, freezing leftovers in case of any sudden Kryptonian house guests. She’d already landed and knocked on the door when she heard an extra voice inside. 

“I’ll get it. Were you expecting anyone else?” Kara recognized Lena’s voice and rushed to fix her hair in time. She could have flown off, to avoid explaining her sudden appearance a hundred miles from her home, but she really wanted to see Lena again.

“Kara!”

“Hi Lena.” Kara looked Lena over, her friend looked happy, wearing a borrowed jean jacket and apron. “I’m so happy to see you again!”

“I didn’t know you were coming tonight. What are you doing out here in Smallville?”

Kara looked past Lena to Jonathan and silently begged for help with raised brows.

“Kara stops by sometimes when Clark has a big story, just to stay out of his way and have some time with family.”

“I thought you weren’t a Kent?” Lena said, confused.

“Anyone can be a Kent if they want to.” Martha said as she joined Lena at the door. “Come inside, Kara. You are just in time for dinner, and let me tell you, Lena’s pot pies are even better than mine.”

Lena blushed. “I don’t think that’s true, Martha. But your recipe is certainly always good.”

Kara came inside and walked right over to the table to sit down; she’d eaten dinner with the Kents enough to be comfortable with the place by now and she noticed that Lena was too. Both Clark and his parents had mentioned the way Lena had become like another child to Martha and Jonathan, and Kara could see how happy all three were together. Jonathan teased Lena that he just couldn’t find enough work to be done whenever she came over to help with the farm and Martha praised her every achievement at school and otherwise. Lena soaked up their attention like a flower catching sunlight and seemed completely happy.

“How are you at Chess, Kara?” Lena asked. “Because I think these two are tired of playing me.”

“Never, Lena. We’ll beat you yet.”

Kara laughed at their antics. “I don’t know that game. Alex hasn’t taught me that one and Clark almost never has time or wants to play anything but Scrabble. I don’t know the words so he always wins.”

“I can teach you. After dinner. We’ll get in a few games before bed.”

Kara usually didn’t stay past dinner, except maybe for a few minutes to show the Kents something she’d learned while flying that night, but it would be hard to explain why she’d traveled all the way to Smallville just for dinner. Clearly Martha and Jonathan were thinking the same thing.

“I did forget that you’ll both need somewhere to sleep for the night. Kara, would you be comfortable on the couch?” If Kara were supposed to sleep on the couch she could sneak home at any time if she wanted.

Lena unknowingly squashed that plan. “She can stay in my room, um, I mean Clark’s room, and I can take the couch, Martha.” 

“No. No. The couch is fine for me.”

“Fine isn’t good enough, Kara. Not for a brave protector like you. I'm sure there’s room in the bed for both of us.”

Kara blushed. “Okay. I promise I don’t snore.”

After dinner Lena kept her promise and began to teach Kara how to play Chess. It went well enough but it was clear that Kara was thinking about other things. She asked to watch a game once she’d played one, so Lena had Martha and Jonathan play and she broke down their moves. 

“Is this another strategy, Lena?” Martha asked as she took another piece from her husband. “You use Kara so that you can see how we play, learn all our moves?”

Lena laughed. “I already know all your moves. I bet I could tell you two how the rest of the game will go. I’ve played you each a few hundred times.”

“Do it.” Kara said, begging for Lena to show off. “You’re so smart, I’m sure you’ll get it right.”

Jonathan and Martha agreed to let Lena announce what she thought each of their moves would be before they played. She was correct right down to the final turn when Jonathan put Martha into Checkmate. “She would have gotten you, but she messed up her defense just a few minutes in.”

Kara had watched in rapture as Lena looked back and forth between the Kents and the board. She’d not only predicted but patiently explained to Kara why they’d made each move. It had all soared over her head but what mattered to Kara was watching Lena in her element, surrounded by those that appreciated her. Kara and Lena hadn’t gotten into much depth in their emails, although they were frequent, but Kara could tell, based on the way Lena talked about the Kents and Clark, how differently she was treated by them than by almost anyone else in her life. 

“Are you ready for another round, Kara?” Lena asked.

“Not tonight, girls. I’m afraid you’ve both got school tomorrow.” Martha said as she put away the board.

“How are you getting to school tomorrow, Kara?” Lena asked, confused.

“The same way I got here. I flew here- on a bus.”

“And that will get you back in time?” 

“I don’t have to be in until after lunch.” Kara lied. 

“Oh. I have the morning off too, independent study. That’s why I came over tonight.”

“Our standing Wednesday night dinner and a game.” Jonathan said happily. “My highlight of the week. Now you two get off to bed. Martha and I will make sure that everything’s done in the morning and we’ll send you both off with a nice breakfast.”

After Kara and Lena got ready for bed, Kara making do with sleeping in her clothes, “My trip wasn’t exactly planned.”, they settled in to bed and after a few seconds of darkness began to chat. It was, after all, clear to both that this had become a sleepover, something Kara had grown accustomed to when living with the Danvers.

“I’m so happy to see you again, Lena. I didn’t know when you would be in Metropolis next.”

“I didn’t realize you visited the Kents too! I mean, I heard the stories about you running away.”

Kara blushed, glad it was hidden in the dark. “Clark’s parents are great. It wasn’t them. I was just always supposed to be around Clark, to protect him.”

“That’s what you said last time too. It’s a little strange that your parents expected that from you. I heard they passed away last year?”

Kara was silent for a moment. “It feels like a really long time ago but also like it was yesterday. It was sudden. They’d known for awhile that they’d have to send me away.”

“Because of the war?” Lena asked.

That was the story that Clark told Kara he was spreading. Her parents had lived in a dangerous area in a war torn country and had sent her away to him to be safe, that they’d died the day she left. It was so close to true, but Kara wished she could just tell Lena, then the comfort Lena was offering would really be for her, then Lena could fully understand her pain.

“They knew they would die, I knew too.” Kara said. “They sent me to Clark, just like his parents sent him away.”

“I’m adopted too.” 

Kara had heard that from Clark. Lena wasn’t born a Luthor. “How old were you?”

“Four.”

“Clark was a baby, you were four, I was thirteen. I wonder which is the worst.” Kara mused.

“I don’t know.” Lena said honestly. “Like you, my parents died after I got to know them, well, my mother anyway. She was perfect and loving, and nothing like Lillian.” Lena tried not to make the last word sound like an insult, but she failed. “I’m so glad that I have Clark, Martha, and Jonathan. Lionel is good too, but he’s been more distant lately.”

“Lionel and Lillian are your adopted parents?”

“Yes, Lionel and Lillian Luthor. I don’t even know why they adopted me, they must have needed good PR that year.” Lena sighed. “That isn’t quite fair. Lionel and Lex were always nice to me. Lillian is just Lillian.”

Kara didn’t know how to respond, she’d only ever had a loving family, smaller and stranger though it was now. “I have a new sister.” Kara had told Alex a lot about Lena, but she hadn’t told Lena anything about Alex, she didn’t know how she could explain why they were friends ‘We know each other because Clark is Superman?’.

“Clark had a baby?” Lena said surprised. 

“No. Then it would be my cousin, I think.” Kara said. “No, my friend, Alex. Her parents are gone, for now, and she lives with us too. I hope she doesn’t feel like you do.”

“That's just like Clark, to take in his cousin's friend in their time of need. I’m sure your friend doesn't feel anything like I do. You Kents are the warmest people, anyone would be lucky to be part of your family.”

“I’m not a Kent, Lena. I’m of the House of- oh never mind. I’m not a Kent, you’re a Kent.”

Lena rolled over to face Kara. “I know you weren’t born a Kent, but you’re Clark’s cousin and you’re just as loving as they are. I wish I were a Kent.”

“Martha said anyone can be a Kent. I don’t want to be a Kent, not yet, but you want to, so you are.”

Lena laughed. “Okay, I’ll tell Martha and Jonathan tomorrow morning.”

“You already come over for family dinner more often than Clark, you will be their favorite child.”

“I’ve never been the favorite. I wonder what that will be like. Lex was always the favorite, and he was brilliant, so it made sense.”

“Lena. You’re brilliant. And you’re already the favorite, didn’t you notice? Did Martha and Jonathan mention Clark more than you tonight? Didn’t they say how proud they were that you had gotten into all of those colleges? Jonathan said that once you were settled in they would come visit.”

“He didn’t mean it.”

“Of course he did. You are a Kent, they love you as much as Clark. They visit him at least once a month, if you invite them, they’d visit you twice as often.”

“You think so?”

“I would visit you whenever you asked.” Kara rolled over so that her face was level with Lena’s. “And I’m not even a Kent.” 

The girls continued to chat for another hour until Kara fell asleep mid sentence.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The next morning the girls were woken by the smell of pancakes. Kara almost used her super speed to race down the stairs before remembering Lena was in bed next to her. 

“That smells so good. I guess I have to get out of bed.”

Kara climbed out from under the covers and sat on the edge of the bed. “If you don’t get up now I will eat all of it without you.”

“I thought you were my protector, you’d let me starve?”

“I need to check the food?” Kara suggested as she stood up, hopping from foot to foot waiting for Lena to finish getting dressed.

“My savior.”

There turned out to be enough for a small army. “We weren’t sure if Clark would come to join you.” Martha said, pulling Kara aside. “I called last night to tell him you were stuck here but didn’t get a hold of him or Alex.”

After they ate, Jonathan drove Lena back to school and Kara helped Martha with the dishes. “Martha, can you tell me more about the Luthors?”

“What do you want to know?” Martha asked, giving Kara a smile she didn’t understand.

“I want to know that they are good for Lena. She said that they do not treat her as family should.”

Martha sighed. “Well, if you asked Jonathan he would tell you that the only good Luthor is Lena, but he’d never say that in front of her.”

“I asked you.” Kara pointed out.

“I think that Lex was going to be trouble, and Lena and I have talked a little bit about power and corruption and why Lex turned out the way he did. Lionel was part of the problem, but he does love his children. Sometimes he tries to be a good man, but he had the same problems affecting him that Lex did. He is rich and smart and has too much power for his own good. I think we all agree, you, me, Clark and Jonathan, that Lena Luthor is a wonderful person who has a big heart and would only use the power she was given to help others.”

“Lena Kent.”

“Lena Kent?” Martha replied, wondering if Kara was doodling that name on her textbooks. Kent was the name Kara technically had on her forged paperwork, but Kara never let anyone who really knew her use it.

“Last night, you said anyone could be a Kent if they wanted, and Lena wants to be a Kent, so I told her she was one.”

Martha had intended the comment to be for Kara, to show Kara that she always had a place with their family, but she’d been trying to convince Lena of the same thing for almost a decade, so it certainly applied there too. “Is that what you girls were discussing last night after we sent you off to bed?”

“Yes. Lena said her family is not like a real family, not like the Kents, but I told her that she is a Kent.”

“Of course she is, Kara. Thank you for telling her so.”

Kara finished up the rest of the dishes in a moment. “Good. I wanted to make sure, because family should never keep secrets.”


	7. There's More to Metropolis than Meets the Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reveal! Just not the one everyone wants. Instead, you get Cat Grant, the supportive bisexual, and Lucy Lane, a young woman determined to be a soldier with her own path.

When Alex turned up to the Daily Planet at 9AM, at the same time that unbeknownst to her Kara and Lena were hanging out in Smallville, she wasn’t sure of the reception she’d receive. Alex needed advice and Kara had always made Cat sound like the coolest person in the world. Apparently Cat knew that Kara was into girls and had no problem with it, so she probably wouldn't care that Alex was either, but maybe she just wouldn’t care about Alex at all. In the past few weeks that Alex had been living in Metropolis, she’d come by the Planet often enough to pick up or drop off Kara, but she’d never really gotten to know anyone. She knew enough to recognize that Clark, Lois, and Kara had attracted Cat’s attention in different ways, but that Cat mostly ignored the rest of the staff. Maybe Alex wouldn’t be worth her time, still she sat there waiting, hoping.

“Hello.” Cat said when she sauntered over to her desk at 9:40. “If I’d known I was keeping someone waiting I might have shown up earlier. Did we have an appointment or were you just looking for Clark or Kara?”

Alex looked Cat straight in the eye and went for it. “Kara says you’re brilliant and know a lot about people and how they work. I’ve been visiting this coffee shop a block from Clark’s place for the last month, at least once a day, and flirting with the barista. She flirted back. I asked her out last week, and she said we’d go out when she had time. I asked her again last night, when would be a good time and she just . . .”

“Suddenly didn’t have any time?” Cat suggested.

“She seemed really into me.” Alex sighed and buried her face in her hands. “I could see the moment when she realized I was asking her on a date and not just trying to become friends. She was really nice about it but she won’t talk to me anymore.”

“Maybe she was into you, but the area you were in? Where Clark lives? It’s not the right part of town for meeting ladies. If she works around there, even if she were into women, she might not want people to know. I used to live in the Gayborhood, let’s go down and grab a cup of coffee. That’s where you should be.”

“Don’t you have work to do?” Alex asked.

“When you write the gossip column, you can work anywhere. The Gayborhood is where I learned to be a gossip writer, and it’s been too long since I went back to visit. We have to wait for one more person before we can go on our field trip though, so why don’t you tell me more about this girl at the coffee shop.”

Alex spilled her guts for another hour, waiting for she assumed Kara to show up. Instead Cat eventually pointed Alex’s attention towards Lois, Clark, and a girl about Kara’s age as they entered the newspaper’s offices.

“That’s Lucy Lane. I was told last night that I was going to be babysitting her today. It seems my nonexistent skills with teenagers are in high demand these days.”

Clark noticed Alex as they walked over and gave her a questioning look. “Is everything okay, Alex? Is something up with Kara?”

“Don’t worry about it, Clark. Some matters just require a woman’s touch.” Alex snorted at that one and Cat smiled. 

“Lucy, please be good today. I swear I will take tomorrow off so we can do something but this story could get me another Pulitzer.”

“I’m not a kid anymore, Lois. Go write your boring story. Clark, will you take tomorrow off too?”

“We’ll see.” Clark said at the same time Lois said “Don’t bother Clark, Lucy. I’m sure he needs his days off.” Clark shrugged but gave Lucy a smile as he and Lois headed towards their desks.

“Come on Lucy, we were just going out to grab coffee. Meet Alex, she lives with Clark and his cousin, Kara.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

“All these women are gay?” Lucy asked with wide eyes when they entered the shop. Cat had told her where they were heading as they walked.

“Not all, some of us are bisexual and others just like a good cup of coffee.” Cat laughed.

Alex smiled as if she knew about Cat all along, and Lucy brightened and opened up to them. “I’m bisexual too. I can’t really tell Lois that I like women because I know she’d want to tell our dad.”

“You don’t think he’d accept you?” Alex asked, it was a fear she had about her own parents but not nearly at the top of her family worries at the moment.

“I don’t know. But that’s not the issue. He’s a general with a conservative mindset. I could never join the military if he finds out. My dad is a stickler for rules, and whether or not he cared about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ he would consider it his duty to keep me out. He’s tried enough other reasons anyway.”

Cat nodded. “We just don’t live in a world yet where everyone can be the person they want to be. But, if you can’t be out to your family, at least you can come here. Of course, I wouldn’t condone two or three minors going upstairs tonight to get to see more of the queer scene, but on an unrelated note I would recommend any newcomers to go to the bar and ask to meet Sue and Marlane. They’ve been around awhile and are always happy to introduce new women to the community, Sue was my roommate in college.”

Cat also knew the owner of the shop and grabbed them each something to drink and a snack. While they were eating she told them stories about her college days and coming to terms with her own sexuality. “I could never say these things to a fellow gossip reporter, or most of the people I write about in my columns. It’s a good thing Kara isn’t here.”

“Kara would never print anything you didn’t want her to.” Alex assured Cat, who of course controlled entirely whether or not Kara printed anything.

“I know. I need to get that out of her. She’s got to learn to trust her gut and someday that will mean publishing a story that no one wants out there.”

“What if she’s too much of a goody two shoes to do that?” Lucy asked. Alex didn’t notice the hostility in her tone but Cat did.

“She’s certainly too good at times, but I know she’ll come into her own and be a brilliant reporter, and whatever else she wants to be.”

Alex could see why Kara was such a fan of Cat, the woman could be approachable, supportive, and was always very quick on the uptake. “Do you ever say that to Kara?”

“I can’t let her head get too big, Alex. Now why don’t you two wander around the area a bit, there’s a gallery down the street, a few book shops, and a record shop. We’ll meet next door for lunch later and then I’ll drop you two back at the Planet before I really get to work.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Kara returned to Metropolis after her impromptu sleepover, more certain than ever that Clark needed to tell Lena the truth. She wanted to make him fly to Smallville that night but she knew that he and Lois were still mid investigation. She contented herself with the knowledge that she could tell Alex all about it and together they’d team up against Clark the minute he was done. She made her way to school, arriving on time after a quick stop at home to change, she didn’t see Alex there but assumed she’d gone on ahead, not everyone had super speed after all. Partway through the day, Kara realized she hadn’t heard Alex at all. Usually she could hear her conversations and sometimes she listened in on Alex’s classes so she could learn two things at once. It didn’t really work well but it made them both laugh when Kara could help Alex with her homework. 

Kara was getting worried by the time she’d waited for Alex at her locker for more than ten minutes after the end of day bell rang. Alex might be good in school, but she never wanted to linger after. The girls usually met up to discuss plans for the night and walk to the Planet or their apartment together. Kara sped around the school twice to make sure she hadn’t missed Alex anywhere and then raced to the newspaper to find Kal. If something had happened to Alex while Kara was off flirting she would never forgive herself.

When she got there, barely remembering to slow down as she came into the newsroom, she quickly realized everything was okay. Alex sat on Cat’s desk chatting to someone Kara didn’t recognize, another girl about her age. She heard someone come up behind her. “Did you not see the note that Alex left for you this morning, Keira?”

Kara realized her face must have shown how truly worried and then suddenly relieved she was all over nothing. She shook her head as she turned to face Cat. “No, I was at a sleepover last night and I was only home for a minute before school. Has Alex been here all day?”

“She needed help with something and since you were busy she had to settle for me.”

“But she’s okay? Couldn’t Clark help?” Kara asked, confused. “Is he still out on that story?”

“He and Lois are typing it up now. No, the kind of help Alex needed isn’t the kind of thing you ask Clark Kent for.” Cat laughed at her own words. “And I turned out to be doubly helpful. Before Alex got here I was already given the task of babysitting Lois’ little sister. I don’t know what everyone around here is thinking, I’m no good with kids, but at least you three are interesting.”

Kara would have insisted that she wasn’t a child but Alex looked up then and saw her. “Kara, come here. You have to meet Lucy. She is the coolest.”

Lucy didn’t blush at the compliment, instead her smile tightened a little. “Alex and I were just talking about travel, but I hear that you’ve done a bit of that too. Hi, I’m Lucy.”

Kara walked up to Alex and her new friend and offered her hand. “Hi Lucy, it’s so great to meet you.”

“I’ll leave you three devils to get acquainted. Keira, be sure to ask the girls about our day out. I can’t wait to hear what else you all do while you’re in Metropolis.” Cat laughed and grabbed a garment bag off of her chair. The life of a social writer was so tough, ball after gala after launch party. Still, she’d almost rather hang out with these hooligans tonight; knowing the combination of youth and eagerness to belong, not to mention the kind of luck that the Kents always had, was going to result in some beautiful mischief that evening.

“Those two will be here all night finishing that story.” Lucy nodded her head over towards Lois and Clark, sounding annoyed. “Let’s get out of here and head back downtown. I can’t believe I’ve been to Metropolis so many times and never been near Juniper Street.”

“What’s on Juniper?”

“Our new best friends.” Lucy replied.

“Who?” Kara asked.

“Just wait.” Alex promised, her eyes all aglow.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The girls arrived outside the club and were faced with the typical age restriction. You had to be eighteen to enter and twenty-one to drink. 

“Any chance someone is going to buy that you two are eighteen?” Alex asked.

“I have a fake ID.” Lucy said.

“I’ll find a way in.” Kara was sure that she could put on a burst of speed or enter through a back window if need be.

“Or you could just ask.” Came a voice behind them. “Are you three Cat’s friends?”

The girls turned around to see a short woman with cropped hair holding her hand out towards them. “I’m Janet. Cat called ahead and I think almost everyone up there is expecting you.” 

“We were told to look for Sue and Marlane.”

“They’re in there. Sue is working the bar tonight and Marlane is hanging out until she needs to get ready for the burlesque show. I’ve been told that you can’t stay for that part though.”

“Cat said that?” Alex asked, surprised.

“Hah! No Cat feels that it is important for every young woman to see other women owning their sexuality in a space that is solely focused on the female community but unfortunately the bar does have some rules that can’t be bent even for her. Come back in a few years or just wait for Pride, we’re always too swamped to care then. It will be my tenth year participating.”

“What’s Pride?” Kara asked.

“Oh, wow. I see why Cat wanted you three to come here.” Janet led them inside and pointed out people as they walked towards the bar. “Our community is pretty tight knit, we’re one of the only Lesbian bars in the city.” She said as they grabbed seats. It was still early on in Happy Hour so the place was pretty empty. “Assuming you all come back at some point just make sure to ask someone to grab me, or Sue, or Marlane, and we’ll let you in. Cat vouched for you all.”

Janet introduced them to her friends, all of whom knew Cat, and they told stories for a while. Alex felt she should share again her rejection story, this group seemed the most likely to understand her predicament.

“Look, if she isn’t interested or can’t tell you that she is, you just have to move on.” Sue said. “Life’s too short to get hung up on straight girls or random closeted ones.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.” Kara told Alex.

“It’s okay. This wasn’t one of those times you needed to protect me.” Alex said. “I just wish I knew how to tell if a girl was queer.”

Sue, Janet, and Marlane all chuckled. “It’s not usually that easy, Alex. But, if you ever find out a better method than just picking women up here or finding them through your friends, let us know.”

“Is it okay to be here if I like men and women?” Kara asked. Her knowledge of LGBTQ issues on Earth was fairly limited. 

“Of course.” Janet told her. “This bar is a place for people to meet up and be themselves. Technically anyone can come in, but mostly it’s women. It’s getting easier to be open about who we are outside of this place every day, but it’s nice to know that you can always have a community here.”

Kara thought about that. On Krypton it hadn’t mattered who you were interested in, she had barely thought about it mattering here until Alex had been so happy to learn that Kara liked women too. Having a community that accepted you, it was a nice idea. Unfortunately Kara didn’t think that these people would necessarily accept all of her, but their warmth and support was still appreciated. She could tell by watching Alex, that this support was exactly what her new sister needed. “Alex.” She interrupted the conversation that had started again while she got side tracked inside her head. “Why don’t you go say hello to those girls over there?” She pointed out a group of girls who were all about Alex’s age. “That girl in the leather jacket seems your type.”

“I think she should go for that one in the suit. What kind of high school or college student dresses in a suit?” Lucy gestured to another girl in the same group.

“Well.” Alex took a deep breath. “I might as well go say hello to both of them. Always a good idea to make new queer friends.” With that she walked off, looking back only once with an excited and nervous smile. The group she walked over to immediately made space for her and offered her a seat.

Kara and Lucy high fived before Lucy remembered she wasn’t really sure about Kara yet.

“What about you two?” Marlane asked. “Are you two going to go meet anyone? Or are you two together?”

“No.” Both girls answered together. Kara blushed and Lucy blinked purposefully a few times, trying to keep stoic. 

“There’s already someone I’m interested in.” Kara said to fill the silence.

“Who?” Asked Lucy, out of curiosity.

“Lena Luthor.” Kara said with a dreamy smile. “She’s friends with my cousin and she’s just so smart.”

“Lex’s sister? She’s a Luthor.” Lucy pointed out. “You know her brother was evil, right?”

“I know who she is. I never met her brother. I won’t judge her for her brother anymore than anyone should be blamed for their family's crimes, even with everything that happened between Lex and Clark.”

Lucy knew that her sister’s view of the Luthor’s was more complex than her father’s and subsequently hers. “I guess that’s fair. I still don’t really understand what Lois ever saw in Lex but she’s mentioned Lena before. It must be hard to be part of that family.” She decided to redirect the conversation to something lighter. “I’m interested in Jimmy Olsen. We went out on a date last time I was in town but that was ages ago. I guess I shouldn’t really get attached to anyone now anyway, I’m going to transfer to a Military Academy soon and I don’t have time for a distraction.”

The older women left the two girls alone, feeling that their work was done. Cat had asked them to help with Alex and to keep an eye on all three. It wasn’t the first time that Cat had brought someone to their community or asked that they be watched out for, but she had expressed particular interest this time.

“Do you think we should have told them about the time Cat brought Lois here?” Sue asked Marlane. "You know that dark haired girl is Lois' sister."

“I’m not sure she’d forgive you for that, Hon. Cat Grant can’t bear to hear about the one time she got turned down.”

“I still think Lois didn’t understand that Cat had asked her here as a date. The woman just kept telling Cat that one meal wasn’t going to be enough of a bribe to get her to hand over a story.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Lucy, Alex, and Kara were kicked out of the bar a bit before 10pm with waves, a few cheers, and for Alex, two phone numbers. The three girls had started to walk back towards the Planet when they heard a crash in the alleyway behind the bar. Kara leapt into action and started to run towards the sounds of fighting.

“Wow, I guess she is like her cousin.” Lucy said with a smile.

“You know?” Kara turned to look back at Lucy right before she turned round the corner. 

“Of course, I know- “ Lucy began, but was interrupted by Kara lifting a man off the ground with one hand and depositing him in a dumpster. Kara helped the other person, a girl holding tightly to her purse, to her feet with her other hand, firmly keeping the dumpster lid closed with the first. She crushed the dumpster slightly to keep it closed and let go. The girl smiled at all three of them a bit nervously and ran back inside the bar. Alex grabbed Kara and Lucy to move them away from the scene in case someone came back out to help.

“Did Lois tell you that I’m from Krypton?” Kara asked as they moved. “I didn’t realize she'd done that.”

“She didn’t.” Lucy shook her head.

“Oh, Clark told you that he’s Superman and you figured it out.” Alex supplied.

“No.” Lucy shook her head again. 

“Did you figure it out then? But the glasses-” 

“No. I didn’t know.” Lucy interrupted, looking back and forth between them. When Kara and Alex realized what she’d said they stopped walking.

“You said I was like my cousin.” Kara stammered.

“You said you knew.” Alex pointed out.

“I was going to say that I knew a Kent could never stop themselves from helping someone in trouble. Did you know that the first day I met Clark he found me outside Lois’ apartment waiting for my sister to come home? She’d forgotten I was coming to visit because of some incredibly important deadline, and then Clark just happened to be coming by to see her and he let me in and made me breakfast.” Lucy said. “But, I’m glad I know now. It all makes sense. I bet that stupid apartment door wasn’t really unlocked, I knew Lois would never leave it that way. And of course all the times he's just run off over the years.”

Alex and Kara looked at each other for a long moment. “Can you . . . not tell Clark about **this**?” Kara gestured back towards the bar and the alley. “He’s going to kill me if he finds out I told you.”

Lucy laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Clark or Lois. But you said she knows?”

“Yeah. That was also me.” Kara scratched her head and looked embarrassed. “I thought if I told Lois the truth that she and Clark would stop fighting.”

“You don’t want Lois and Clark to fight?”

“Are you kidding? I want them to get married already. I’ve been waiting ages for Lois to be part of the family.”

“I thought you were keeping them apart!” Lucy exclaimed. “Lois went cold on Clark a few weeks after you moved in and even though they got back together eventually she’s always really weird when I ask about him. I thought you didn’t like Lois and were complaining about her to Clark or something.”

“That would be about when Kara told Lois the secret. Lois and Clark are doing better now but she’s probably just worried about talking about him and letting something slip. Anyway, Kara is their number one fan.” Alex said. “She makes me ask Clark at least once a day why he hasn’t proposed yet.”

“He never has a good answer.” Kara griped. “He thinks that Lois could be in danger if they get married.”

“That sounds like a good reason to me.” Lucy was rather a fan of keeping her sister safe.

“Well it isn’t. Lois is in danger constantly. She seems so smart most of the time and then out of nowhere she will just tell a bad guy that she knows they are a bad guy, especially when no one else is around to hear or help her. She was kidnapped twice last week!”

“It’s true.” Alex agreed. “Lois, Kara, and I were walking home from dinner the other night while Clark was flying around the city on patrol and a van pulled up and two guys jumped out and grabbed her.”

“I melted the tires with my heat vision and Lois took out the guys in the backseat while they were busy yelling at the driver. It’s not that Lois can’t defend herself.” Kara assured Lucy. “But really, she just ends up in trouble so often.”

“That does sound like Lois.”

“You’re taking this all very well.” Alex complimented Lucy and patted her on the shoulder.

“Well, I can’t let things faze me that easily if I’m going to be a three star general someday. Also, I mean, Lois dating Superman? And hanging out with - do you call yourself Supergirl? Superwoman?”

“Just Kara?” Kara shrugged.

“Anyway, seems like that’s the safest thing for her. Lois likes trouble, no wonder she’s dating the only person who finds more trouble than she does. Now that I know you aren’t trying to keep Clark from being my brother-in-law, I guess we can be friends, so let’s get organized.”

Alex, Kara, and Lucy began making plans to give Clark and Lois as much alone time as they needed in the future, with just a few hints to give them the push that Kara and Lucy both felt they needed. “1,000 red roses. Really Kara?” 

“It’s romantic.”

“But where are we going to find those?”

“I would need two minutes.”

They walked Lucy back to Lois’ apartment and each girl gave her a hug. “Thanks for keeping our secret, Lucy.”

“The world needs people like you.” Lucy said to Kara, any resentment she had towards the girl was gone after their conversations and the events of that evening. “Someday I’ll be someone important in the army and I’ll make sure that you always have a friend in the government.”

“That means a lot, Lucy. I would never work with the government unless it were someone I could trust.”

“You’ll have two of us.” Alex interrupted. “I thought about what you said this summer, Kara. I think I will join the DEO like my parents. They need a wake up call that there are good aliens out there and as a scientist I want to bring alien technology to Earth to help improve life here. Give me a few years and you won’t recognize the place.”

“The DEO?” Lucy asked. “I’ve heard of them. With Alex there and me in the Army, the world will be more than ready to accept Supergirl.”

“I’d be honored to work with you both.” Kara said and grabbed both of their hands. “Whenever you need me, I will be there, my new family. My sister, Alex.” Alex and Kara shared a look that was filled with affection. “And my cousin-to-be Lucy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The women I named in the gay bar are all fantastic ladies who I met/knew when I was a child; older lesbians who basically made it so that I never had any question that loving ladies was acceptable and beautiful. Especially Janet, who was the best friend a kid could have and I know would have supported me when I came out if she'd been alive.


	8. The Big Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter you have been waiting for.

Clark and Lois had finished their story the previous night and Lois lived up to her promise to take the next day off to spend with Lucy. Alex and Kara insisted that Clark take the day off too, as he had planned to do all along. “She’s going to be your sister, Clark. You should spend more time with her.” Kara said.

Clark sighed. “Maybe someday, Kara. I would certainly like that. Today though, Lucy is a friend that I rarely see, so of course I will go hang out with her. Lois is too protective of Superman and me, sometimes. If I have to leave lunch for a few minutes to save the day I’m sure Lois will be able to cover for me.”

Alex and Kara traded glances. “Of course she can, Clark.” Alex told him.

“Now onto the second order of business.” Kara said dramatically.

Clark rolled his eyes, Kara was really enjoying some english phrases and it drove him crazy. “I assume the second order of business is Lena, since the first was Lois? Do I get any say in my life, Kara?”

Kara gave Clark a look which reminded him that he too often made decisions about other people’s lives to have a leg to stand on now. “I saw Lena the other night when I went to visit your parents.”

“You did?” Clark was surprised, mostly that Kara hadn't mentioned it until now. 

“Yes. She visits them every week for dinner and I happened to go on a night she was there.”

“You just happened to go on a night she was there?” Clark teased.

“Yes. I had no idea she would be there but I certainly didn’t try to leave once I found out she was visiting.” Kara blushed. “Anyway, I really like her Kal, but more than that your parents love her and you love her. Don’t keep this a secret any longer. If you don’t tell her soon then I’m going to do it the next time I see her.”

“Okay. You’re right. It took Lois some time to wrap her head around everything but she did need to know and Lena deserves to know too. Lois also told me after she found out, and often reminds me, that I have been selfish. I wasn’t ready for either Lois or Lena to know because I didn’t know if they could trust me again but that isn’t fair to them and makes me unworthy of their trust. " It sounded like Clark had had the words drilled into his head, but that he also accepted their truth. "I’ll ask Lena if we can have lunch soon, the three of us. I’m sure you want to be there.”

Kara whooped with joy. “Yes! Good. Okay. Great. I can’t wait.” She started to hover a bit in excitement and Alex yanked her back down to the ground. 

“I’m happy for you both.” Alex said. “Now can we get going? I still have school today.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Clark emailed Lena that afternoon, because he knew if he saw Kara again without an update he wouldn’t hear the end of it. Lena was ecstatic to get his message. Clark rarely sent messages to her despite always being available when she needed him. A few times a year he would send an article or something he thought she’d be interested in and the rest of the time he waited for her to reach out to him. So Lena was extra delighted when Clark told her that he wanted to have lunch with her, and that he was bringing along Kara, someone Lena was certainly getting very fond of. He said that they could meet in Smallville if it were easier for her but Lena replied that she would be in town for an L corp board meeting in the next month, because Lionel had decided she ought to be present at them now seeing as it would one day soon be her company. She was getting into Metropolis a day early to have some time in the city and would be happy to spend as much time with Clark and Kara as they could give her. 

Kara was disappointed to have to keep the secret for another few weeks but Clark had kept up his side of the bargain so Kara dutifully decided she wouldn’t ruin this moment for him, even though she was bursting to get this secret out in the open. She talked about their lunch date often and regularly had Alex and Lucy help her think over potential issues, such as what if Lena didn't want to hang out with aliens. Whenever Kara got too worried her friends tried to distract her.

“You should get her a gift." Alex suggested and Lucy agreed. "Yeah! Maybe something about Krypton that can help her learn more about you and Clark. She’s a scientist, right? Write about science on your planet.” 

The girls spent the rest of the time they had before the reveal putting it all together. Alex, with her background in the science commonly taught on Earth helped Kara figure out what was worth putting down. Lucy suggested adding in some drawings and notes about the history of Krypton, to make it more personal. Lucy also helped them to write the book in cypher so no one would have to worry about it falling into the wrong hands. When they were worried that giving Lena a coded book seemed like a reminder of Clark not telling Lena for all these years she reminded Alex and Kara that this was a secret for a reason. “Seriously you two. Clark telling Lena makes sense but you can't just leave that information floating around. Superman has enough problems without you telling everyone his secret identity.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

The day finally came. Clark looked almost sick as he drove himself and Kara to the train station to pick Lena up. Alex was waiting at home, ready to hear all about it and comfort anyone in case Lena didn’t take the news well. Lois was also aware of the situation and similarly ready to interfere. 

As they sat in the car waiting to see Lena’s train pull in Clark saw that Kara had a book in her lap. “What’s that?”

“It’s a gift for Lena.”

“A gift?” Clark looked even more nauseous. “I didn’t think of that. I could run out now and get her something.” The sound of a train interrupted him. “I’ll just be a minute, Kara, cover for me.”

Kara grabbed her cousin and held him in his seat. “Kal. Clark. You are sharing something deeply important with Lena. I wanted to do the same. You have been a friend to her and part of her family for years, there is nothing better you could give her than the truth. I just wanted to be able to give her something too.”

Clark nodded and took a moment to breathe. By the time Kara and Clark could hear Lena’s high heels clicking on the platform he was ready. He turned to Kara and smiled. “Thank you for making me do this. I want this to go well, but either way, thank you.”

Kara squeezed his arm once in support and let go. She patted the book in her lap and then set it on the floor of the car so she could jump out and give Lena a hug. 

Lena had come dressed to impress. A Luthor had to travel in style, even when they were covertly taking a train so they could sneak into town and hang out with friends. She was so excited to see Kara and Clark, and she hoped that they’d invite her back to their place again for her stay. She’d even packed lay around the house clothing, the kind she had to smuggle in whenever Lillian was around. Clark hadn't invited her to crash with them in his email but she really didn't want to be stuck in a hotel when her friends were so close by, especially after she'd had such a good time staying with them before. Lena didn’t have time to look around for her ride once she got out to the parking lot before she was tackled hard by Kara, surprisingly they didn’t fall over.

“Maybe let her breathe, Kara.” Clark laughed.

“You’re just jealous I beat you for the first hug.” Kara teased. “You know you’ll never be as fast as me _baby cousin_.”

Clark rolled his eyes and accepted a gentler hug from Lena when Kara finally let go. “I was thinking we’d take you out for lunch first and then if you want from there we could take you back to our apartment or to your hotel, whichever you prefer.” Clark had made it clear to Kara that if Lena needed space after their conversation they would give it to her. 

“That works for me. There was some food on the train but you were really adamant about lunch so I haven’t eaten yet. I didn’t really have breakfast either.”

“But it’s past noon, Lena.” Kara sounded astonished. “How are you alive?”

“Not everyone eats as much as you two.” Lena laughed. “I was trying to get here earlier but I couldn’t find that morning bus you took when you went from Smallville to Metropolis last month.”

Kara blushed. “Yeah, I’ll tell you something about that later. Come on,” She grabbed Lena’s hand. “Lunch first, and then I got you a present!”

“Why?” Lena frowned. “Is this another Kent thing?”

“No, I just thought you might like it. But I can’t give it to you yet so come on!”

Lena allowed herself to be dragged to the car while Clark grabbed her bags and put them in the trunk. Kara graciously gave Lena the passenger seat and moved to the back.

“Is this the present?” Lena asked looking at the book at her feet. There was nothing written on the cover and Kara was quick to stop her before she could pick it up. “Yes, but you can’t open it yet, because I’m not going to explain it until after we eat.” 

They arrived at another of Kara and Clark’s favorite restaurants in a few minutes. They would have eaten at their favorite place but last time they were all there together, Lena was shot at. Clark was able to park after driving around the block just once and they were sat down pretty quickly in a crowded part of the restaurant. 

“Lena,” Clark started, sounding a bit more serious than he usually was around his friend. “I have something important to tell you, and Kara is here because she really wanted you to know and wants to help answer any questions you have.”

“Are you sick, Clark?” Lena asked, very concerned.

“No. I’m fine, Lena. This is . . . a good thing?” He looked at Kara who nodded. 

“Are you getting married?” Lena asked, now more confused.

“You’re right, Kara. This is difficult.”

Kara nodded. “Hold any questions until the end, Lena. It’s much faster and easier that way.”

Lena shrugged and nodded for Clark to continue. 

“Lena, you know I’m adopted.” Clark waited for Lena to nod again. “Well, I wasn’t adopted from Kasnia or wherever I said. Actually, I wasn’t originally from Earth.” 

Lena’s eyes widened and she had to bite her lip to keep from asking another question but she nodded again. “I’m from another planet. A planet that was dying.” He looked around at super speed and then lowered his voice. “Lena, I’m from Krypton.”

There was an explosion outside the restaurant and Clark and Kara locked eyes, she nodded and he disappeared. A second explosion rocked the restaurant and Kara pulled Lena to the floor under the table. 

Lena looked at Kara. “So, are you really from Kasnia?”

“No, no wonder my dialect of Kasnian is so different." Kara joked, but then she became serious. "I’ll tell you all about it if you’ll come with me.”

Lena mentally calculated the risks she would be taking in going to an unknown location with someone she just found out was an alien; they were minimal. Kara had saved her life once before and there was no way Lena was not going to find out more about all of this. She nodded and Kara picked her up then sped away.

Kara put Lena down in a park a few miles outside the city. 

“So.” Lena started. “Do I have to wait for Clark?”

“No.” Kara said. “I think he got the important part out, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Lena laughed, yes, Clark had certainly told her enough to be intrigued and to start figuring things out on her own. “Is he Superman?”

“Yes.” 

“Okay.” Lena sat down at a bench nearby. “Okay, he’s Superman.”

“He is also Clark Kent.” Kara reminded her. 

Lena nodded in a way that suggested she wasn’t quite listening and looked up at her friend. “I can’t formulate questions yet, can you tell me more?”

Kara was pleased, this was going fine, Lena was clearly not in denial like Lois had been. Lena had also been carried several miles outside of the city by Kara in the span of a second which might be sufficient proof for a scientist that she wasn't human. “Of course. Clark was sent to Earth when he was a baby because our world was ending, his pod landed in Smallville where the Kents found him and raised him.”

“So Jonathan and Martha are human? I just thought maybe aliens are all super nice.” Lena joked, uncertainly. If all of the Kents were alien it would just feed into her fear that no human could ever love her.

“They are human.” Kara confirmed. “But I also think Clark and I are super nice.”

“If your planet died then how are you here?” Lena asked. “I read in an interview somewhere that Superman was the last Kryptonian. There must be at least another one based on your age, unless you are only half-Kryptonian. Is Clark your father?”

Kara grew very indignant. “I am older than Kal-El and as I have always said, he is my cousin.”

“What?! Do Kryptonians age backwards?”

“No, don’t be silly. I was stuck in a prison world for twenty plus years where time doesn’t pass so I never aged.”

“Uh huh.”

“It sounds strange to you, I’m sure, but I meant it when I told you that I was sent by my parents to protect Clark.” 

“Okay. You are older than Clark, despite the weirdness of that statement. You weren't a baby when Krypton died, how old were you?” Lena asked.

“Thirteen.” Kara replied. “He was a baby and I was his big cousin. We were the only children in the family. I used to hold him and sing to him and when my parents told me that Krypton was dying, that they were going to die, and I had to go to Earth to protect Kal, I knew I could do it. I could protect what was left of the House of El.”

Thirteen? Lena remembered Kara saying she thought she was fourteen the first time they met and how Clark hadn't even known Kara existed until she was thirteen. Kara had gone through so much and so recently, but without the ability to truly share her story. Lena stood up and went to give her friend a hug. “I’m so sorry, Kara. After you told me before about how your parents died the day you left Kasnia I looked for more information so I could understand and maybe find a way to help other Kasnian refugees. Now I understand why I couldn’t find it. There’s no information about how your world ended. It must be very lonely.”

Kara suddenly remembered, “The book! Your present. Hold on one second, Lena!” She took off and Lena just felt a gust of wind and Kara was gone. Before she could finish looking around her friend was back with the book. “This is for you, it is a history of Krypton with as much basic scientific information as I could remember. It doesn’t have much information about the end of my planet because it is difficult subject for me to write about. Remember how I told you before that I was training to be a scientist when I left my family? It’s true, so I actually knew a lot. I didn’t write down everything because there is too much, but if you want to know more about any of it, let me know.”

Lena took the book from Kara and held it reverently. “You made this?” 

“Yeah. I’d been bothering Kal for ages to tell you his secret and he finally agreed and asked you to come for lunch. When you said you could do lunch in a month Alex and Lucy helped me work on it.”

“Who is Lucy?” Lena asked as she opened the book. “Is this in Kryptonian?”

“Lucy Lane.” Kara explained. “Lois’ sister. The book is in code. I would have written it in Kryptonian but I don’t think you can read that yet.”

“You’d teach me?” Lena asked, touched. Kara had put together this book for Lena, even though it was painful to remember her planet. Kara wanted to share her history and language with Lena.

“Of course.” Kara blushed. “I want to teach as many people as possible how to speak Kryptonian. I don’t want it to die with me.”

Lena lowered the book and gave her friend another look of understanding. “I would be honored to learn Kryptonian. Thank you for the book Kara.” 

Kara heard a slight whistle indicating Kal was looking for her. “Lena, hit your watch.”

“What?” Lena asked

“Your signal watch, the one we gave you last time.” Kara reminded her and pointed at the watch on Lena’s wrist.

“Oh.” Lena looked at her watch. “OH! You gave me this watch so I could always get help.” Lena considered the intention behind the gift, the promise to keep her safe. “Thank you.”

“I told you Superman would help a Luthor.” Kara said with a smile.

Lena’s face darkened for a long moment and then something seemed to click in her head and she calmly touched her wrist. Kara threw her hands to her ears and made a look of pain. Lena immediately pressed the button again and Superman landed a moment later.

“Does that watch hurt you?” Lena asked, reaching out for Kara’s shoulder. "I wouldn't have used it if you told me that!"

“It’s just like an alarm clock.” Kara told her. “It’s really loud and even though I told you to hit it I wasn’t ready. I could have just called Kal myself but I wanted you to know that it worked.”

Lena gave Kara a small smile, it was clear to her how much Kara valued her and her feelings, what a Kent. Then she turned to Clark, “So, should I call you Kal or Superman? What does Kal mean?”

“Only Kara calls me by my birth name, Kal-El.” Clark replied. “It would be helpful if there are other people around if you call me Superman when I’m in costume but please, Lena, it’s still just me.” Clark stepped forward to give Lena a hug, and she let him for a moment before stepping back.

“Did Kara tell you everything?” He asked while he searched her face for any hint of what she was feeling. Lena had put on the Luthor mask since he landed, something she rarely wore around him.

“I don’t know.” Said Lena, honestly. “That’s kind of a hard question for me to answer. I know that you are Superman," She gestured to the suit. "Kara didn’t have to tell me that part once you told me you were Kryptonian. She told me that she is older than you, somehow.”

“Of course she made sure to tell you that.” Clark laughed. “How many times has she mentioned it?”

“Only twice, but she was very insistent the first time.” Lena laughed a bit too and then asked the question everyone knew was coming. “Clark, why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I was scared, Lena.” Clark looked away from them both. “I know Superman shouldn’t be scared, especially not to do what’s right, but if you live two lives like I do then you end up with twice the consequences.”

“What do you mean?” Lena asked, knowing what he was going to say but not wanting to broach the subject herself.

Clark looked at her. “Are you going to make me say it, Lena? I’m so sorry, I can’t-” 

Lena interrupted out of pity. “Lex.”

“I tried to save him. I was too weak.” 

“I read all the articles, I asked the police for all of the interviews from people who were there that day. Clark, I talked to Lois.” Lena stepped back towards Clark and wrapped her arms around him. “I know what Lex did to Superman that day. I know he almost killed him, I know my brother almost killed you.” She shuddered. It was still hard at times to reconcile her brother with the man who had committed such crimes but this one, his attempt to murder their friend, was impossible to understand.

“Lena, I would have flown up there and saved him if I had any strength left.”

“You were outside, weren’t you? Lois said you held her as she cried.”

“Yes. I escaped from the Kryptonite cage that Lex put me in and made it outside. I changed back to my clothes for the wedding because I couldn’t fly home in my state. When I got out there he stepped onto the balcony and then to the ledge. I could still hear him. I watched my friend die that day.”

Kara wrapped her arms around both Lena and Clark. Clark had started to shake and Lena was crying. “I am so sorry for you both.” They broke apart after another minute.

“You thought I would blame you?” Lena asked.

“I thought you should.” Clark said. “I still do. Lena, if only I’d been smarter, I knew what Lex was into, as soon as I became Superman I started seeing it everywhere. I could have gotten him help. I just thought that if he knew Superman was out there he would stop. He always thought he was too clever for the police, and he was, but I thought if he knew I was out there and if I foiled a few of his plans he would be smart enough to redirect his focus to science and business.”

“Instead he saw you as his nemesis and Lex had always wanted a nemesis.” Lena supplied.

“Yes.”

“Did he know that you were Superman?” She asked.

“No. I thought someday he would figure it out or I would break and tell him but he was more interested in beating me than working with me. It was too risky to let him in on it. But you, Lena,” Clark wanted to be very clear about this, “I’ve always trusted you. It wasn’t about you, it was about my guilt.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Clark. He poisoned you, and tried to kill you, and you still would have saved him. I know you would have. You Kents don’t have a bad bone in your body. If any part of me thought Superman didn’t give his all to rescue my brother, the moment I found out the truth that doubt was gone.”

Clark tried to smile at her forgiveness but failed. “I could have been stronger. If Kara were there, she would have saved him.”

“So Kara really is stronger than you?” Lena asked.

“Yes. I told you this the night we met.” Kara had been trying to keep quiet but her pride was at stake. “I am a protector, I am very strong.”

Lena smiled. 

“It’s probably because she spent years on Krypton that the difference of the yellow sun is so much greater for her.” Clark said.

“Kryptonians aren’t all superheroes?” Lena asked.

Kara laughed. “No. We were much like your society, we had artists and scientists and a few soldiers. No one could fly or was super strong.”

Lena looked at the book in her hands. “I can’t wait to decipher this and learn more.”

Clark looked at the book. “What’s that book, Kara?”

“The history and science of Krypton, by Kara Zor-El from the House of El, apprentice of the Science Guild of Krypton.” Kara said proudly. “A basic guide of everything I could remember. With help from Alex.”

“Didn’t you say someone else helped?” Lena asked.

Clark was looking at the book so he didn’t notice Kara shake her head and give a look asking Lena not to say more. Lena raised an eyebrow and stayed quiet.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to write that all down, Kara?” Clark asked.

Kara sighed. “Kal. We trust Lena, remember we just told her the big secret.”

“Plus she encoded it.” Lena pointed out. She opened the book again to show Clark. “Can you read any of this?”

“No.” Clark said honestly. “Okay, I guess it’s fine. Just keep it safe will you Lena? Maybe wait a few years before you use any of that science to build anything too crazy.”

Lena laughed. “I can’t make any promises. I don’t know what’s in here yet.” She looked at Kara. “But this is such a wonderful gift. I’m so glad I know the truth.” She looked at Clark. “Thank you for telling me now. I’m sure I will have a lot of questions but I’m just going to wait on those for a bit. If you’ve finished stopping whatever those explosions were, can we go back to yours for lunch?”

Clark smiled and glossed over his heroics. “Yeah, everything’s all set back in town. I’ll call for Pizza once we get back.”

Kara laughed. “Yes, thank you. I am so hungry. Also, now you can meet Alex! She can’t wait to meet you.”

——————————————————————————————————————————

Lena stayed with Clark, Alex, and Kara for the rest of the weekend and hung out with them outside of her meetings. The secret wasn’t mentioned much by anyone, Alex and Lois had taken Lena’s coming back to the apartment with them as a good sign and other than Kara flying around the room a few times to impress Lena and once making popcorn with her heat vision everything was pretty much normal. Alex and Lena with their shared interest in science and now alien cultures were fast friends, they’d both noticed Kara wanted them to be friendly and neither one had any interest in disappointing her. When Sunday afternoon came and Lena had to catch her train back to Smallville she hugged each of them goodbye, and promised not to open the book until she was alone.

“I think I might leave it with Jonathan and Martha. My school does occasionally do room searches for alcohol and somehow my room is always the one randomly chosen for a thorough review.” Lena said as she put the book away.

“Remember, if you have any questions just let me know. And if you want I can come to dinner some Wednesday night and we can talk about Krypton.” Kara said.

“That would be great!” Lena enthused. “You’ll have to tell me where to catch that direct bus though, I swear I looked everywhere.”

Kara giggled. “Lena.”

Lena looked at her confused. “What?”

“Lena, I didn’t take a bus.”

Lena looked at her. “You said you took a bus?”

“I lied.” Kara told her.

“Why would you lie? Oh. Did you fly to Smallville?”

“Yeah. I fly there for dinner sometimes to visit the Kents. I usually fly back right afterwards. There is no morning bus.”

Lena looked annoyed. “Well, now I feel betrayed. I always said you Kents were good people but you just make up buses and lie to my face.”

Kara laughed. “If you want a ride sometime, I could give you a lift.”

“You will not!” Clark told her.

As Lena left she could still hear the fight going on behind her. It hurt a little bit to think that Clark, Jonathan, and Martha had kept something like this from her for so many years, but she understood. These were good people, who had been scared. Jonathan and Martha had tried to protect her, worried that this secret would just be another disappointment and a sign that Lena couldn't trust anyone. Poor Clark, who had believed himself guilty and didn’t want to admit to Lena his failings. She had forgiven him before he’d even told her. Kara, who had wanted to tell her since the night they met, who wanted to share her world with Lena and who never hid her affection for her or let a moment pass when she could give and love and help. Lena could forgive all of them and would keep their secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was nervous about this chapter, hopefully it is what you were hoping for even if it is a bigger moment for Clark than it is for Kara. This is not the end of the story but I only anticipate another two or three chapters. Now that we have a family of badass women around Superman we need to get them all together. Also SuperCorp needs to get together.


	9. Team Supergirl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara's team is shaping up and getting ready for a future where they will need to save the day. It could be soon.

Over the next few weeks Lena would occasionally ask Kara questions about her early life and about Krypton. She checked in whenever Superman had a tough fight and she laughed when she heard about Kara saving the day in tiny ways for everyone around her. Kara told Lena about her goal to become Supergirl someday so she could continue to be a protector. She talked about how a team was forming, a family of people connected to Kara and Clark that would support her as she saved the day. Lena insisted that she become part of this team. After Kara had explained to Lena about Lucy finding out the Super secret, she properly introduced Lucy and Lena. The two girls had never met despite the fact that at one point their siblings had been briefly engaged. Lucy had softened on the idea of Lena Luthor while helping Kara prepare for revealing the secret and almost immediately the two girls clicked and were picking each other's strategic brains.

The four of them; Alex, Kara, Lena, and Lucy, talked often about their plans for the future. They each had decided what their roles would be; Alex would be a scientist for the DEO with access to all of their alien technology and information, Lucy would be Alex's point of contact in the military and make sure that she used the influence of the Lane name to make friends for Supergirl in the military and government, Lena would work to improve L Corp and use her own power and influence to be a valuable resource to the public and Supergirl, and Kara would be Supergirl. Kara knew that her job sounded the simplest, but without her team there was no way she could do it. Being Supergirl would require the same public face that Superman presented of constant goodness, righteousness, and strength. Clark had Lois and Kara would have a team that opened doors for her to save the world.

Lucy had them all on a strict training plan. They each worked out alone several days a week and whenever she could Kara would find time to spar with her friends, usually Alex or Lena as it was hard for Lucy to sneak away from her school and Kara didn’t want to be caught on base. She wasn’t allowed to use any of her powers except her invulnerability at the moment during training sessions, but every now and then she slipped. A few times Kara had accidentally sent Lena flying but always sped over to catch her before she could hit the ground. 

“How come it’s always me that you go full warrior on?” Lena asked in one of their group emails, using a Kryptonian cipher that Kara and Lucy had come up with to protect their conversations.

“Because she’s showing off.” Alex replied. 

“She just wants to get you in her arms.” Lucy wrote.

“Lena, ignore those idiots. It just means I need to go harder to win against you.” 

Lucy, Alex, and Kara had a side chat about how Kara needed to listen to the advice she'd given Clark for months and let Lena in on the secret that Kara liked her. Meanwhile in Lucy, Alex, and Lena’s side chat they talked about how Kara would never become her own hero if she insisted on staying in Metropolis. 

“How are we going to get her to leave Clark?” Alex asked. “Unless he retires, there is no way she can get out of his shadow.”

“We could all move and live in the same city.” Lena suggested. “We’re part of Kara’s family now and if there were a concentration of us somewhere else, maybe we could convince her that Superman can take care of himself if we told her that we need her.”

“I’ve heard National City’s nice.” Alex responded. “They’ve got a great LGBTQ community and from what little I know about the DEO, most of their operations run out of there because of the government.”

“That’s funny, Cat Grant keeps bothering me about doing another interview and told me that she thinks I should take L Corp to a new city to really get a chance at a fresh start. She mentioned National City.”

“Lois has been going on about National City too. She said if I get stationed there she could visit me more often because she goes there all the time for stories. I wonder where she got that idea?”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

“Well, who told you that National City has a great LGBTQ community?” Lucy questioned.

“Kara.”

“And who does Kara spend her time with outside of this family?” Lena drove the point home.

“You two aren’t still going on about how Cat Grant knows Kara’s secret are you? I told you, if Cat knew she would print it. Lucy, she basically told us that much that day in the coffee shop. Why would she want us all in National City anyway?”

“Cat Grant thinks bigger picture than you think.” Lena told Alex for the tenth time. “She told me that Kara is special the first time we met.”

“Just don’t mention it to Kara. If she thought for a second about whether or not Cat was family she would decide she is and tell her the secret and honestly Kara has adopted enough people already.”

“She did basically adopt us.” Lucy agreed.

“Technically I was adopted by the Luthors.” Lena pointed out.

“No, you were adopted by Jonathan and Martha which means you can still marry Kara.” Alex replied. 

“As soon as she asks me on a date you two can plan the wedding.” Lena said. Lena was completely aware of Kara’s interest but felt they were too young to get committed, of course she knew that if Kara asked her out that she would say yes. She just wasn't sure on Kara's hesitancy, Kara usually was quite clear on her intentions and what she wanted.

“Like we aren’t already.” Lucy and Alex told her.   
________________________________________________________________________________________

Outside of sparring practice, and Kryptonian lessons with Lena, Kara was getting more heavily into work at the Planet. She had been officially hired when she turned 15 and although she had yet to have her name in the paper she continued to write for Cat to review and provided Cat with gossip that sometimes made it into the paper. One day Perry White had called Kara over and asked her to help him with a few odd jobs, since Jimmy was getting to actually work as a photographer now. Soon Kara was learning from two of the greats directly and observing Lois and Clark constantly. Everyone at the paper felt that Kara would someday be one of the star reporters for the Daily Planet, everyone except Perry and Cat.

“Are you sure that she’ll go with you to National City?” Perry asked Cat during their monthly lunch away from the office. 

“I’ve planted seeds with her friends. Supergirl is going to need space to spread her cape, and I'll be providing the perfect opportunity.” 

“And you’re sure she’s going to become a hero? Maybe she really just wants to stay with Clark and write for me.”

Cat laughed. “That girl can’t stop protecting people. She’s going to realize someday that her cousin has Metropolis handled and that there’s a whole world out there that could use her help. Given half a chance to get out of here, she’ll fly.”

“You’re probably right.” Perry sighed. “I just can’t help complaining when I’m going to be losing one of my best reporters and the best up and comer I’ve seen in years. That girl can write a story in three languages.”

“Four at least, I'm sure. And I might let you keep Jimmy, he’s pretty good too.” Cat offered. “But we both know the only reason I’ve stayed this long is so I can poach Kara for my media empire. You’re lucky we’re such good friends that I’m moving all the way to National City, it’ll give this dinky place a chance to survive off of local subscribers when CatCo hits the world stage.”

Perry laughed. “All right, all right. When are you going to offer Kara the job?”

“Whenever Lois and Clark finally tie the knot. I’m sure after a few weeks of living around their marital bliss she’ll be happy to get out from underfoot. I’ll be leaving at the end of the year though, I need to get the place set up a bit before I bring her on.”

“You could always stay a few more years, wait til I retire and then take over here.”

“Kara’s not the only one who needs some space to grow, Perry. Plus, are you trying to get me murdered by Lois Lane? Your heir apparent would kill me in a second if she thought I was gunning for your job and we both know Superman would look the other way.”

“Fine, fine. Have it your way. But if CatCo isn’t outselling the Daily Planet in five years you have to tell me how you figured out about Clark before I did.”

Cat laughed, remembering the day she was called into Perry’s office all those years ago because he needed someone to help him decide what to do with some big information she’d been sitting on for months. “And Kara?”

Perry threw up his hands. “Great shades of Elvis! I maintain that she could have just been a human cousin.”

“It took you two months to notice that she hovered whenever Lois and Clark kissed in the office.”

“But that’s not how you figured it out?” Perry asked as he’d done before.

“I knew it from day one, Per, sorry.” Cat Grant had known as soon as that fierce little girl had told Cat that she was Clark’s cousin. She knew almost as much about Krypton as Lois did, having always kept an ear out for anything related to Superman. The pain that was in Kara’s eyes for so long, which still resurfaced at times even now, had been clear but unimaginable to Cat. Basic family history, a knowledge of Superman and Clark Kent? Cat couldn’t see how Perry had needed any more proof.   
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Despite all of their rigorous training, and the scenarios that Alex and Lucy often organized for practice rescues, none of them were expecting for their team to be tested before they had any of the positions they eventually planned to hold. However, one day a few months after the secret had been revealed to Lena, Lois came to the apartment in tears and told Kara and Alex that Clark was in danger. Lois and Clark had been taken hostage during an investigation. Clark had broken them free of course and then changed into his costume, after which, in typical Lois & Clark fashion, they continued to explore the warehouse they had been taken to. It appeared that Cadmus was ready for them and Superman had been shot by a Kryptonite ray which had knocked him down but not killed him. Lois snuck out the side door after seeing him carried away and went straight to Clark’s apartment to get Kara. 

“Why didn’t you just hit your watch?” Kara asked as she started pacing. She kept looking between Lois and Alex, as if by checking that they were both okay every moment she could keep herself together.

“Because I knew you’d fly right in and I didn’t want them to take you too, Kara.” Lois explained. “We need a plan to get back in there. I don’t want to ask this of you, but I need your help.”

“Of course I’m going to help, Lois.” Kara replied. “Everyone will help. This is a problem for the whole family.”

“The whole family?” Lois asked, confused. 

Kara looked over to Alex who had gone over to the apartment’s computer as soon as Lois had started telling her story. “General and CEO will be ready for pickup in an hour. Are we going to rendezvous here or in Smallville?”

Kara thought for a moment. “Smallville I think. The Kents have a computer and I can grab whatever else we need.”

Alex nodded. “Are you going to fly over there now and tell them what’s going on?”

Kara turned to Lois. “We need a bit more recon I think. I mean I’d like to barge in there now but I’m sure that plan would be overruled instantly.”

Alex nodded. “You aren’t going in there without more information and backup.” 

Kara sighed. “I figured. Lois, I don’t think you should go back there now. They might be looking for you. Can you call Clark’s parents and tell them everything you know?”

“I don’t want them to be worried.” Lois said.

“They should know what is going on.” Kara replied. “And we are going to need their help I’m sure. Plus I don’t think they would feel comfortable knowing that both Lena and Clark were in trouble and they weren’t told until later.”

“Lena is in trouble?” Lois asked, confused.

“Well, at some point she probably will be.” Kara clarified. “This is our first team mission, it can’t possibly go perfectly.”

“So is Lena ‘CEO’?” 

“Yep.” Alex answered. 

“And who is ‘General’?” 

Kara and Alex looked at each other. “You will meet them in an hour.”

“I’ll do recon.” Alex told Kara. “You shouldn’t get close until we know what’s going on, how much Kryptonite they have.”

“But you will hit your watch if you are in any trouble?” Kara half asked, half told Alex.

“Of course.” 

“Okay. You go do recon, I’ll be nearby. After that we’ll hit the Fortress of Solitude for anything that might help.”  
____________________________________________________________________________________________

An hour later everyone was inside the Kents’ kitchen. Lois was the only one surprised to see her sister there. 

“LUCY!”

“Hi Lois.” Lucy replied. “Thanks for tipping us off on this. Don’t worry, we’ll get Clark back.”

“Us?”

“Team Supergirl? The Super Family?” Lucy replied. “Did you not know I was going to be here?”

Kara and Alex looked anywhere but at the two Lane sisters. 

“Ah, I see. These two chickens decided **I** got to tell you what was going on.”

“We don’t have time for this Lucy.” Lena reminded her. “What additional information do you have, Alex?”

Alex sighed and decided to tell everyone at once. “Lena, your mom is involved.”

“Lillian?” Lena asked.

“She appears to be one of the head scientists for Cadmus.” 

Kara, who had been standing next to Lena already, pulled the other girl into a hug. “We will get Kal out of there without hurting your Mom.”

“I don’t care.” Lena said.

“I do.” Kara replied. “We can do this without too much violence. We need to, none of you have the gear we need to protect you properly.”

“Kara, I just thought it would be the two of us going in.” Lois told her. “I can take care of myself, these guys can’t. I don’t want any of you in there, Kara has to go, we need her powers, but Lucy, Alex, Lena, you aren’t going in.”

“I for one probably won’t fight much.” Lena replied. “I’m just there for the science and taking down Cadmus. But you aren’t going in without all of us.” She looked over at the Kents. “I mean, you two don’t have to come in.”

Jonathan and Martha looked at her with pride, as always. “I think we’ll just be backup.” Martha looked at Kara. “You’ll take care of both of them for us right, Kara? Lena and Clark?”

“Of course I will.” Kara was fierce. “I will protect my family.”

“And I’m definitely going in, Lois.” Lucy told her sister. “I have at least as much fighting training as you do, and I’ve planned this mission. Also, Kara, show me what you brought from the fortress, I brought enough basic armor for the five of us. Lena made a call to get us a distraction out front, we should be a go in half an hour.”  
____________________________________________________________________________________________

“You need me to set up a party in the warehouse district this evening?” Cat asked on the other end of the line.

“Yes. It’s to do with Kara, and her cousin.” Lena replied.

“Oh, so now it’s Kara and her cousin?” Cat teased.

“This is important, Cat.” Lena replied. “I wouldn’t ask otherwise, although at some point I do want to know more about how you heard about all of this. I recently learned some information about the Kent family and was never told you were aware of it, except for your hint.”

Cat laughed. “Well, we’ll just have to have lunch again soon to catch up then. I’ll handle everything, does this party need to be the type where police show up?”

“No, I think we want numbers and noise, not trouble.” Lena told her. “And thank you, Cat.”  
____________________________________________________________________________________________

The plan was for Alex, Lois, and Kara to sneak into the building and find Clark once the guards were distracted by the music and people outside. They would radio Lena and Lucy when the coast was clear who would then take care of any science issues. They were hoping to avoid interactions between Lena and Lillian but were prepared anyway. Jonathan and Martha would be a safe distance away and available on comms to run in and pick up anyone who needed help. They had food and medical supplies ready. For most of them their nearest and dearest friends and family in the world were there with them. Alex, however, had a call to make, and it went through to voicemail as most of her calls to her mom did now. 

“Hey Mom, I’ve got something big to do today. It should be fine, I should be fine, but I wanted you to know. It has to do with Cadmus. I’ll tell you everything later. I love you.”

Kara did a fly over and x-rayed the building, several sections were lined in lead, as expected, and she saw a few people walking through the surrounding hallways. She didn’t see Kal or Lillian. After reporting back, Kara flew each member of the rescue team to the area that they had been assigned and then a few minutes later when they heard the music begin and saw several people run outside, Alex gave the signal and they entered the building. In their scenario training Alex, Lena, and Lucy had drilled into Kara that if a given mission had a possibility of Kryptonite exposure, she was never to travel alone and never to be in the front. Lois led, as she had been to the building before, and Alex was behind ready to carry Kara out if needed.

Almost immediately they found Superman based on Kara’s reaction to one of the doors as they opened it. He was cuffed to a table with Kryptonite running into his veins via an IV. Kara had to stay back as Alex and Lois began to remove him from the table. Standing guard at the door, Kara saw someone coming down the hall that she recognized, Jeremiah. Immediately she hugged him and then turned to call Alex but Jeremiah interrupted her, “You need to leave, I’ll show you how to get out.”

“It’s okay. It’s under control, Jeremiah.”

“You need to leave, I will help Superman escape later.”

“I can’t leave him. You know that. We’re getting you out of here too. I can’t believe you’re here. Everyone has been looking for you for a year!”

“We? Who else do you have with you?” Jeremiah asked, tilting his head as if trying to remember something important. He seemed to make a decision and went to grab Kara’s hand but fell over before he got far. Kara saw a small dart sticking out of the side of his neck and looked up to find his attacker, another person she didn’t expect to see today, Alex’s mom.

“He’ll be fine.” Eliza Danvers said. “But he isn’t himself and can’t be trusted right now. Can you get him out of here? I have some cuffs for him. Take him to Jonathan and Martha, I saw them on my way in. I’ve been this close to Cadmus for months just waiting for my time to strike and then tonight I got Alex’s message. You get him out of here and I’ll go help my daughter.”

Kara spared time for one more hug before she picked the unconscious man off the floor and rushed him out to Jonathan and Martha who were expecting him. She told them that Alex and Lois would have Clark ready soon but that she couldn’t carry him out because of the Kryptonite in his veins. They looked concerned but understood and moved closer to the building to assist. As Kara rushed back in she used her x-ray vision and saw Alex and Eliza carrying her cousin between them with Lois helping and acting as lookout. She could feel them getting closer to her and had to race to the other side of the building to avoid losing her powers. As she neared the side entrance she caught the sounds of a confrontation with her super hearing, Lillian had found Lena and Lucy. Kara moved to go in but once again felt that Kryptonite was near. She moved back slightly to listen, trying hard to stick to the promises she had made her team about valuing her own safety. 

“I should have known this was you, Mother.”

“I suppose. And I should have kept a better eye on you, Lena. Or just let my henchmen kill you last year. Your father was so upset about that, can you believe he threatened divorce?”

Lena paled. “Father knows what you’re doing?”

“Yes, and he promised to stay out of my way as long as I let you live. What a fool, you’re barely a Luthor, nothing like Lex.”

“I don’t want to be like Lex, or you.” 

“Anyway, now that I can create a new Lex, a perfect and invulnerable Luthor, I don’t need you anymore. I’m sure your father will get over your untimely death eventually.” 

Kara heard what was very clearly a threat to Lena’s life and rushed in, growing weaker with every step. She heard the sounds of fighting and a shot as she ran down the hall towards her friends. She came into the room, ready to fight with whatever she had in her. She felt a punch on her shoulder, she actually felt it and it hurt. 

“Idiot.” Lena said. 

Lucy looked up from cuffing Lillian. “Supergirl, did you just run into a room with Kryptonite in it?”

“I heard what she was saying, I was worried about you two.”

“That’s rude.” Lucy replied. “If I’m trusting you to take care of my sister, I hope the least you can do is let me take care of your girlfriend.”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “I believe I’m the one who threw the first punch.”

Lucy smiled. “Yeah, but I’m the one who got her on the ground.”

Kara sat on the floor. “You’re both great. Now who is going to help me out of here and take care of that Kryptonite.”

Lena gave Kara a hand. “I guess that’s me, since I’m your girlfriend now apparently?”

Kara blushed. “Um.”

“We’ll discuss that later.” Lena told her, it really was past time Lena took charge of the situation. “Let’s get you out of here and then we have to talk about a few things.”

Lucy opted to stay inside with the unconscious Lillian until more humans could come in to remove the Kryptonite.

The Kents had pulled a van around near where the massive street party was going on outside, their van was one of several though none of the others had anyone in them. Clark was in the back, recuperating, with Lois sitting next to him. Alex and her mother were holding hands and looking over at the unconscious Jeremiah often. Jonathan and Martha ran over to Lena to help her with Kara. Kara hadn’t been badly exposed and had regained most of her strength once they walked out of the building but she didn’t mind leaning on Lena a bit. From the looks Lena was giving her, Lena knew what was going on and didn’t mind either.

“Where’s Lucy? Is everything okay?” Lois asked as they came out.

“Everything is fine now.” Lena said. “But there is something you need to know. My mother was doing something pretty weird with Clark. She had extracted his DNA and was keeping him alive to run a variety of tests on the limits of the Kryptonian form. I’m going to review the data inside and then destroy it. Alex, I want you to come with me so we can both figure out what she learned. I know my mother can’t possibly stay in prison long, if we can find a way to get her there in the first place, so we need to be prepared for whatever comes next. Jonathan, Martha, Lois. Can you three come in and help Lucy and I disassemble the Kryptonite security that my mother put in place? I don’t know how we can get rid of it, but we’ll gather it all together at least. Kara, you stay out here with Clark and the Danvers. I don’t want you two back in that building.”

Clark had recovered enough to laugh. “That’s Lena Luthor for you. Lena, if you put the Kryptonite in a lead box then Kara and I can transport it somewhere safe.”

Lena nodded and the humans went back into the building. 

Kara and Clark heard music coming from the party. “Is that Backstreet Boys?” Kara started laughing. “Oh Kitten, what a thoughtful gesture.” Then she was quiet for a moment. “I wonder when Lena realized that Cat knows?”


	10. Moving Towards a New Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the rescue mission everyone takes some time to talk and then looks at where they go from here.

All of the rescuers and those rescued from Cadmus returned to the Kents that night. Kara and her team had promised they would fill everyone in on what they had been doing the next day, as long as they got to hang out together for a night first. Lena and Lucy had really only met in person for a few moments before they took down Lillian Luthor together, and Lucy had heard so much about the Kents but never met them before. Alex herself had only seen the Kents a few times in person and had helped to save their son. While Clark and Lois would have liked to be able to get to their writing and to shoo away their friends and family back to their homes, or maybe just to have a moment alone, they were overruled by girls who wouldn’t be parted and parents who were happy to have everyone safe in one place.

Team Supergirl spent the night in the barn, though none of them fell asleep until they heard Jonathan and Martha get started on the chores. Kara and Lena felt bad for not helping and volunteered to pitch in. Lena made it halfway through collecting eggs before she fell asleep standing up and Kara fell asleep a few minutes later as she tucked Lena in. By the time the girls woke up it was lunch and Martha, Jonathan, and Clark had made more food than the table could hold. After everyone had eaten their fill, which took fourth and fifth plates for the Kryptonians, they gathered in the living room. Clark had flown in seating from his apartment to make space for all of them.

“Who is going to start?” Martha asked.

Clark looked at Kara. “I’d like to know more about the team that rescued me yesterday.”

Kara blushed with pride at hearing Kal acknowledge her team and her smile was as wide as it had ever been. “I can’t wait to tell you about my team. But maybe we should start with Eliza and Jeremiah. I didn’t expect either of you to be there yesterday and your story certainly starts earlier than ours.”

Eliza was sitting on one of the couches in the living room with Jeremiah next to her and Alex lounging on the arm of the couch on his other side. Eliza squeezed her husband’s hand before she started. “Well, a few months ago I was finally considered trustworthy enough to work directly on missions with Director Henshaw of the DEO. He was behaving very differently from how he had in previous meetings, and while I won’t give up his secrets, I will tell you that the mission that they lost Jeremiah on changed him.” Jeremiah nodded, he was obviously in on the secret. “It was clear to Director Henshaw that I wanted to know more about your father’s disappearance and he helped me as much as he could. We went together to look for him, with the Director believing at the time that we would find his body instead of him. Instead when we found almost nothing at the site of his last case, the Director was very concerned and after revealing something to me began to direct much more attention to the project. I was pulled off of other cases and the two of us focused solely on your father. Eventually we had found everything we needed to know but the Director wasn’t aware of any law that had been broken related to the DEO that would allow him to pursue the case and neither of us wanted this case to go beyond our organization. He offered to help me off the record, but I was sure I could find something to bring the full force of the DEO on Cadmus if I only looked hard enough. Henshaw told me to take whatever time and tools I needed and that there would be a position for both Jeremiah and I when we returned safely. I’d been watching Cadmus for weeks, following them from city to city to find the right moment to strike. But then I got a call last night from my daughter, just as I got back to base, telling me that she was on her way to the same place I’d just been. By the time I got there, there was no security to be found and my husband was facing down a rather oblivious Kara.”

“But Dad is okay now.” Alex assured everyone in the room. “Mom was able to figure out that it was an implant that had affected his mind and we’ve been able to short it out. I don’t think we can remove it, but we shouldn’t need to. Dad is back to being himself, right?”

Jeremiah nodded. “If we do need to remove it, I expect that Hank, I mean Director Henshaw, will be able to find something to assist.” Eliza looked at her husband and then nodded, accepting whatever he had planned.

“Is there anything we need to know about your time with Cadmus?” Lois asked. “Off the record.”

Everyone laughed. 

“I mean it.” Lois insisted.

“We know you do, Lois. But only you would be surrounded by heroes during a secret mission breakdown and clarify that whatever was said was off the record.” Lucy replied.

“I, for one, appreciate the notice, Lois.” Lena said. “It’s always good to check that you are off the record with reporters. Which reminds me, I forgot to check that everything last night was off the record with one person.”

“You mean Cat.” Kara assumed. “Don’t worry about it.”

Lucy, Alex, and Lena all turned to look at Kara with wide eyes. “What do you mean? Why do you think it’s Cat?”

“Because Cat set up the distraction last night.” Kara said, as if it were obvious. “But as I said, don’t worry about it. She would never tell.”

Lois looked at Clark. “Cat knows? Did you tell her?” Clark put up his hands to show he had nothing to do with it when Lois sighed and looked at Kara. “Wait, what am I thinking, you told Cat.”

“Of course not.” Kara insisted. “I have only told three people the Super secret and all of them are in this room.”

“Fine, fine. But then how did Cat find out? Are you sure she knows?” Alex asked. 

“She knew the first day we met.” Kara told them. “I didn’t realize it until later, but I’ve dropped enough accidental hints that she would be investigating if she didn’t already know, plus there has always been something in her eyes and tone that says it. She’s known the whole time I’ve been here. I knew Clark didn’t tell her because he would have said, but she must have figured it out because she knew from me being his cousin that I had powers too.”

“She told you all this?” Lois asked, rather annoyed that Cat Grant had figured out Clark’s secret when she hadn’t.

“No. She won’t tell me and I won’t tell her. It is a fun game. Cat is very big on not telling reporters things you shouldn’t. She makes sure I don’t tell her things I shouldn’t. She is helping me to keep my secret, because if she pretends not to know it, no one can learn it from her and she won’t have to explain why she doesn’t print it.”

“And why won’t she print it?” Lois asked, having thought a few times about doing so herself.

“Cat is ambitious and as smart as any of us, and she is moving on from being a gossip reporter. She wouldn't sell us out for a spike in sales because she thinks we are more important than that. Also because she cares and because she trusts us. When Cat moves on to bigger things, she will need us there.”

“So you already know that Cat wants to bring you with her to National City?” Lena asked.

“No!” Kara said, delighted. “I had no idea. I will think about it.”

Lucy, Alex, and Lena looked at each other and then noticed that Clark and Lois were looking at each other too. 

“We can talk about this later.” Clark said. 

“Of course.” Kara said. “You want to hear about our team!” She began to break down what each of their roles on the team was, and Lucy added in commentary of what they’d done well the night before and what they hadn’t. After a few minutes of analysis, with Lois getting clearly more and more upset as time went by, she interrupted their conversation. 

“But why did you pull my sister into this? Why did you tell her the secret?”

Kara looked at the floor and Alex looked at the ceiling. Lena and Lucy burst out laughing. “These two idiots thought I already knew.” Lucy said. “They saved the day in front of me because they misunderstood one sentence and decided I knew the Super secret.”

“You should have told her.” Kara said, looking between the sisters. “I thought Lois would want you to know.”

“Definitely not. Are you sure you want to mix yourself up in this, Luce?” Lois asked. “This is a strange life, and I don’t want that for you.”

“You don’t get to choose what life I lead, Lois.” Lucy told her sister, trying to control herself. “You don’t and Dad doesn’t. I want to be a general someday, I see a reason for our military and I want to make it better than it is today. I want to be the military support for Supergirl. I want to be the strategic mind behind the Super family.”

Lena and Alex coughed pointedly. “Fine. I want to be one of the strategic minds behind the Super family. And I am part of this family, so I’m already mixed up in it. I might as well take charge.”

“Does that mean I’m the only non-strategic mind in the Super family?” Kara asked, hurt. 

“Obviously not.” Lena said soothingly, putting her hand on Kara’s. “We’re also counting Clark and Lois.”

Kara glared at Lena but turned her hand over so that they were holding hands. “I only ran into the Kryptonite room once, Kal has done that like a hundred times.”

“It was our first mission.” Alex reminded her. “And that is the drill we’ve run the most. You have one weakness, don't go in the room with your one weakness.”

“Okay, okay.” Clark said, feeling a bit bad about his poor cousin getting teased by her team. “Well, I certainly can’t speak against Kara becoming a hero someday, especially if she has you three on her team. Any other objections to Team Supergirl?” He asked the assembled family members.

“Lena,” Jonathan began in a stern voice. Lena looked over at Jonathan and Martha with worried eyes. She had never done a thing that they had disapproved of, and she would be so broken if they didn’t want her to do this. “Can you make us better communication devices for next time? The ones we used this time were so patchy we had no idea what was going on inside. Not that we often anticipate going on missions, we trust that you'll handle things.” 

Lena stood up, and Kara let her go of her hand easily, so that she could cross the room to Jonathan and Martha. They each gave her a hug and she decided to sit down next to them. Martha leaned over, and in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, told Lena how proud they were of her. “You have always been a Kent in my book, Hon. Thanks for rescuing your brother.” Lena tried not to cry, and failed miserably. Clark stood up and walked over to give her a hug as well. 

“You are the best sister I could ever hope for.”

“I’m pretty sure at this point you have three or four of us.” Lucy pointed out. “Don’t go playing favorites just because she punched Lillian first.”

“I was his first sister.” Lena joked, fighting the tears. "Of course I'm his favorite."

“Also, I am his cousin.” Kara reminded everyone. “If Lena is his sister, I cannot be his sister.”

There was another burst of laughter from the group and then when it quieted down Jeremiah spoke. “I certainly can’t object to my daughter being part of this wonderful team. I don’t know that I’m ready to go back to the DEO yet, but I want to repay my debts to Director Henshaw, and I hear that my daughter may be joining in a few years, so I need to get the place ready for her.”

“So the ‘D’ in DEO is just going to stand for Danvers at the end of this, right?” Alex joked.

After that everyone hung around for a few more hours, Clark and Kara did some flying for everyone, Lois and Kara compared notes because Kara still had to practice her writing for Cat even if she wasn’t going to turn this story in. Lucy and Lena spent some time alone together with the Kents, who happily watched the girls play several games of Chess, including one that Lena actually lost. “Maybe you should come to dinner twice a week, just to keep your practice up.” Jonathan said to Lena. 

Kara had heard the last part of that and raced back into the room. “I want to institute family dinner!” She made everyone gather in the living room again. “I want to do regular family dinners.” She told them. “We couldn’t do it before because we had to hide that Lucy was part of the team and because the Danvers were busy fighting Cadmus, but we should do them now.”

“We can host dinner anytime.” Martha offered. “Though I’m not sure everyone could come every time.”

Kara nodded. “I know, there are 10 of us here, and the family will only grow. Someday we can include Kitten once she moves on from the media, or whenever she is ready. We will also be part of new families, but on Krypton, you never lose a family when you create a new one. Meals are made to be shared, especially dinner. Kal and I have the ability to bring everyone together if you want, and I would love to see you all often.”

Lucy agreed. “Lena is much funnier in person than over email, you can’t take her away from me now. Alex and Kara are so weird, I need her.”

Alex and Kara rolled their eyes. “You’re just happy you beat her at chess.”

“Lena needs that sometimes too.” Martha said. “She only has us around to beat.”

Lena smiled. “I need all of you. Before I met Clark I had only Lex and Lionel. I don’t know where I would be today without all of you, but especially the Kents, and Kara.”

Kara blushed. “Because I saved your life once?”

“Because I have never had someone who wants me to be as happy as you do, and who looks at me the way Lois and Clark or Martha and Jonathan or Eliza and Jeremiah look at each other. So if you won’t ask me already, I’ll ask you. Do you want to go out on a date sometime?”

Lucy and Alex cheered in the background, everyone else just smiled.

“We aren’t already going out?” Kara asked, deadpan. “By Kryptonian standards we are engaged.”

Everyone turned to look at Kara, shocked, and then over to Lena who was smiling. “I think not, Ms. Zor-El. I’ve read every word of that book you wrote me at least ten times. I know a lot about Kryptonian courting rituals. I don’t see any bracelet.”

Kara laughed. “Fine, I was a chicken. Did you have to call me out in front of everyone? I had a speech I was going to read to you later.” Kara disappeared for a minute, then was back holding a piece of paper. She took a look around to see who else was there and then picked Lena off and carried her away to the barn.

“Chicken!” Alex called after Kara. “She knows we’re just going to hear about it from Lena later anyway.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t help her write it.” Lucy said. Then both girls turned to Clark. “Any proclamations of love you want to make, sir?”

Clark laughed. “Not around you all.” He looked at Lois. “But maybe we could revisit an old conversation.”

“You think I’ll say yes this time?” Lois asked, teasingly.

“You’ve asked her?” Martha was surprised. Clark had had to keep secrets from many people, but she thought he’d never kept any from her and Jonathan.

“And she said no?” Lucy sounded horrified. Lucy had though Kara was in the way of this wedding, and then that Clark was. She couldn’t get upset at her own sister for it though, if it wasn’t what Lois wanted, Lucy would support her.

Lois laughed. “I said yes the first time. Then Clark said it wasn’t the right time and that we should wait and then I asked him a few months later and he said yes but then we got distracted by a big story. We’ve proposed what, three times each?” She said turning to Clark.

“We almost eloped once.” Clark reminded her.

“Kara and I would kill you.” Lucy threatened, all her previous support gone. “Why didn’t you two say anything?”

“Because sometimes there are secrets you should keep.” Clark told her. “We weren’t going to say anything until we were actually following through.” 

“Although, maybe this time we will, now that we have told them. Well, everyone but Lena and Kara.”

“We heard. You’re going through with it this time.” Lena said from the doorway, Kara was standing behind her with a red face with one hand wrapped around her girlfriend. “I call Best Man!”

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Kara had brought Lena back up to the loft of the Barn to read her speech. 

“Don’t interrupt.” She told Lena. “Even if you have questions.”

Lena laughed and sat down on a bale of hay. She’d rather be kissing her new girlfriend, as she was pretty sure that Kara was going to say yes to her date, but she could take a moment to enjoy the effort that her friend had put into this speech.

“Lena, I love you.” Lena gasped slightly. No wonder Kara had been nervous to ask her out if that was her opener. “On Krypton, it was not common to date more than one person in your life, and I intend to follow that practice. I would never ask that you do the same. You will always be my friend, and should you ever wish to be my partner I will be devoted. Although Earth will be where I live, I could never have hoped it would be the place I called my home until I met you and that truth is the same regardless of our relationship. If you ever do want to settle down with me, it would make me immensely happy to give you a gift that you have always wanted. Nothing could make me want to give up the name Zor-El, except having the ability to make you a Kent.”

Lena sat frozen on her seat. Kara came to sit next to her. “I’m still working on the speech, that’s why I hadn’t talked to you yet. It is too much but I can’t find the right way to express my feelings.”

“It’s a lot.” Lena agreed finally. “But it isn’t too much. I want that too someday, with you. Why don’t you save that speech for now, maybe you’ll find another day to give it.” She gave Kara an encouraging smile. “For now, I would like to be your friend, and your girlfriend. I understand it isn’t something that you would enter into lightly, and I want you to know that I don’t either. After all, family dinner would get very awkward if we broke up.”

Kara laughed. “Kal wouldn’t know what to do.”

Lena agreed. “So, let’s start slow, because although we are here together now, we won’t always be in the same place. We will grow and learn together and someday we can talk about whether Lena Kent or Lena Zor-El sounds better.”  
____________________________________________________________________________________________

It didn’t take very long for Clark and Lois to commit to a date now that everyone knew they’d been engaged multiple times over. Lucy had handed over a wedding planner that she and Kara, with Alex’s input, had made and didn’t say a word about it. Kara offered to help with anything at any time, and got into trouble when it turned out she skipped school once to help Lois with some prep work. 

The wedding happened three months after the rescue and it was the first time everyone had been back together. Kara and Martha had worked together to host multiple family dinners, but at least one person was always missing each time. It was a small wedding, containing only the Daily Planet reporting staff, the Super family, and some of Lois’ relatives. Lena had managed to snag the job of Best Man, and Kara was a groomsman along with Jimmy and Perry. Lois had Lucy as her Maid of Honor and Alex and Cat were her bridesmaids. Lois and Clark actually had a fight about whether Cat would be a groomsman or a bridesmaid. They each knew that Cat had a crush on the other and didn’t want Cat making eyes at their partner during the ceremony. Finally Clark won because Lois had fewer people on her side than he did. Then they fought about why Clark got Perry and Jimmy. Kara proposed that Lois should get Perry, which had then spiraled so much that eventually it was decided the wedding party was shared and that Lois and Clark needed to make some friends separately. 

General Lane walked Lois down the aisle, and was surprised to find he had so many eyes on him instead of the bride, especially so many teenage girls sizing him up. He hadn’t been the biggest fan of Clark, but between Clark and Lex, he knew that his daughter had ended up with the less troublesome man. He left after the wedding, it wasn’t his type of group.

During the reception dinner Cat thought about what an awful day it was on which you watched two of your crushes marry each other. It was even worse because she was happy for them. Hoping to get back to feeling herself, instead of sappy, Cat turned to Kara, ready to drop a bomb on her protege that would move them forward towards her media empire in National City.

“Keira, darling. Did I tell you that I’m leaving the Planet next month? I’m off to start a new media empire in National City.”

Kara stopped her conversation with Lena to turn to Cat. “No. You should have given me more notice though, I’m not sure Clark will be able to handle me leaving so quickly.”

“What do you mean?” Cat asked, annoyed with how Kara had turned the tables so quickly.

“Aren’t you going to offer me a position, Kitten?” Kara replied.

“I was.” Cat said sullenly. “You’ve ruined the moment. Anyway, I thought you wouldn’t be ready until you graduated high school.”

“I’ll graduate this summer then, I’ll just be a few months behind you.”

“I’m not starting you as a reporter.” Cat told her. “And you’ll need to finish college before you work full time.”

“Of course.”

“You’re sure you won’t be too busy with extracurriculars to be on top of your work?” Cat teased, stressing the word extracurriculars, hoping to get some satisfaction out of being a step ahead of Kara.

“I’m never too busy for you, Kitten.” Kara told her. “Not after everything you’ve done for me. You know, I forgot to say thank you for that concert a few months ago. I do love the Backstreet Boys.”

Cat stared at Kara, trying to tell if she was saying what Cat thought she was saying. Cat had been careful to only hint to one member of the Super friends that she knew what was going on, a person who was currently trying not to laugh at her. Lena Luthor showed no guilt or embarrassment in having potentially revealed Cat’s hand. Finally Cat simply said. “When we get to National City, Keira, you’ll have to start calling me Ms. Grant.”

“Yes, Ms. Grant.” Kara said before she grabbed Lena, who was now laughing openly at the exchange, and pulled her away to dance. 

“You’re really going to leave Clark?” Lena asked Kara.

“I think it is time I admitted that he can protect himself most of the time. When he gets into trouble I can be there in a moment with help.” Kara replied. “My parents sent me here for him, but I have had the chance to start to build a life for me. I need to keep going.”

“I’m glad you feel that way.” Clark said cutting in. “Save the next one for me, Lena. I’ve got to talk to my big cousin for a moment.”

Lena ran off to talk to Alex and Lucy who were dancing together with Jimmy near the DJ. Kara willingly leaving Clark was a development they’d still been working on the last time they talked.

“Are you sure you want to leave so soon?” Clark asked. “Lois and I were thinking of moving into her place so you could stay with us, or stay at my apartment. You don’t have to go yet, though I’m glad you’re planning to focus on yourself down the road.”

“I’ll have Cat.” Kara told him. “And while I can’t wait for Team Supergirl to be my life someday, I need a chance to explore Earth and myself without them or you for a bit. Alex is going to college in Midvale to spend time with her parents and join their research. Lena wants at least two masters before she takes over L Corp and Lucy has no idea where she’ll be for the next 5-10 years. Right now I need some time to grow. I’m sorry if I took over your life, Kal. When I came to Earth and you were an adult already I didn't know what to do. I couldn’t admit that I needed you, so I told myself that you still needed me.”

“I did need you, Kara. You are the best cousin I could have asked for. I needed someone to push me to be honest with Lois and Lena, and to explore more about where I came from. Lois and I have been talking about having children someday, and I can’t wait to share my history with them. Maybe you can write a kid’s book for me and help me teach them Kryptonian.”

Kara felt a few tears welling up. “ _I cannot wait to meet your children, Kal-El. I am so glad that you are who you are, that you found me when you did, my favorite little cousin._ ” 

Clark laughed. “I see Lena coming over for her dance, try to keep the kids secret from her for a bit will you? Lois said I wasn’t supposed to tell people yet, but I had to tell you.”

Kara let Lena take over and gave her a quick kiss as she passed. 

“You two are cute.” Clark said as he gave Lena a twirl. “But I never know which one of you I’m supposed to tell to take good care of the other. You are my sister, Lena. I’ve been your friend for most of your life.” There was an implied comment about Kara’s importance that went unsaid but felt by both.

Lena always smiled when the Kents, be it Clark or Jonathan or Martha, referred to her as family. “We’ll take good care of each other, Clark, and she’ll be fine in National City.”

“And you’ll be fine at school?” He asked. 

“Of course I will. Lillian is still in prison, and I’ve finally talked with Lionel about his handling of a few things, so no one should try to kill me until at least finals.”

Clark didn’t laugh.

“I’ll wear my watch every day.” Lena promised. “Though you and Kara might have to fight over who responds.”

“You sound a bit spoiled.” Clark teased. “Two Supers watching over you?”

“Two friends. Two parts of my family.” Lena reminded him. “I’ve got another half dozen who can’t fly that would come help me anytime too.” Lena had come to that revelation through many conversations with Kara, Lucy, and Alex. Maybe a few with Jonathan and Martha over the years as well.

“I’m glad you know that.” Clark told her, seriously. “Because everyone who was on that mission to rescue me? They’d be there for you too, no questions asked.”

“We found a pretty good family, didn’t we?” Lena asked, looking around the room seeing everyone she loved filled with joy and life.

“The best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might revisit this universe to see how the Super family fares with some of the villains, overarching plots, other characters in Supergirl, but this is the end of this chapter of their lives. I think from here they each meet new people who would eventually be brought on as part of the team. Lena meets Sam. Lucy brings Jimmy in on the secret. Kara meets Winn and Nia. Alex and J'onn grow close. I have another Supergirl story I can't wait to get back to working on, so any possible continuation of this won't be for awhile.


End file.
